By ANDREW WAREING
For years, Aboriginal tourism operators had a simple product to offer - fishing. U.S anglers would come to some of the most remote parts of Northern Ontario, stay in outpost cabins and try hooking some bragging rights or at least come away with an angler's tall tale or two.
Northern Ontario Native Tourism Association (NONTA) general manager Bill Rogoza says that demand is still a significant part of the market, but emphasis is starting to shift away from fishing to full adventure packages that encompass educational cultural experiences, as well as nature experiences.
"About 10 years ago, the (NONTA) board sat down and said 'Here we've got one strong thing. What other things do we have to offer?'" he says.
"That's when we started to branch off into eco-lodges, teepee camps, houseboat rentals, cruise ships, polar bear viewing and whale watching, each of which add onto the product lines.
"The cultural thing is a little more difficult to define, but when we talk to European visitors and ask them what they thought of their experience, they tell us the highlight was being with Native people," Rogoza says. "They are interested in having quality time with people in the North. I think that goes for all of Northern Ontario both native and non-native. We are good hosts. We can share our connectedness to the bush as Northern Ontarians.
And we have that history."
He says key in the initiative is co-operation between all tourism operators.
Dawn Madahbee, general manager of Waubetek Business Development Corp., says the showcasing of Aboriginal Canadian culture has proven a significant attraction bringing visitors to various Manitoulin Island communities with the Great Spirit Circle Trail. The key to that has been co-operation between the eight First Nations communities and various business operators of Manitoulin Island and the North Shore's Sagamok First Nations.
"The First Nations have not been actively involved in (the tourism) industry to a great extent. We felt we have a lot to offer in terms of unique product and services," she says. "Back in 1997, we talked about bringing the First Nations together to talk about it. Manitoulin has a wonderful history and it is a beautiful place. There aren't many places in Canada where a collective of First Nations communities and 30 Aboriginal businesses have come together to co-ordinate their tourism effort."
A tourism market strategy was developed in 1998, which included building the infrastructure to support visitors to the communities and building some attractions such as the Ojibway Cultural Foundation and local art studios. Madahbee says several new restaurants have also cropped up and the amount of co-operation has allowed the development of complete visitation packages that showcase Aboriginal culture.
"A lot of businesses failed to advertise and market, so what the strategy has allowed us to do is to embark on co-operative marketing of what we have available," she says. "Everything we have is advertised through the Great Spirit Circle Trail."
As a result, Mahdabee says travelers on the Lufthansa Airways see a 10-minute documentary on the Great Spirit Circle Trail and it is advertised in travel magazines as far away as Italy. Although Europe is a major target market for Aboriginal tourism because of the interest in it from that part of the world, marketing efforts also continue into the U.S. and southern Ontario.
"This whole initiative is supported through Waubetek. It works well because Waubetek can invest in business development and expansion," she says.
"We've put money into the tourism industry for our business partners to be abler to offer quality services."
Rogoza says NONTA is in its first year of implementation of a strategic plan developed for NONTA and Industry Canada by a team of consultants led by Economic Growth Solutions. The study, a 282-page document, identifies areas for development including product development, training, community awareness and marketing.
"Under our implementation plan, we've addressed those areas. As the programs are available and as interest of the various partners around the table gets stronger, the more we implement," he says. "There is a tendency to do what we know best. We know fishing best and we've done sports shows for years and we think that's best. There's new ways of marketing and there's new ways of identifying potential customers.
"I would venture to say we're probably selling ourselves short," he says. "There are people who have no idea what quiet is about and we have places you can go to rent a cabin for a week where there's nothing but quiet. That's a dream to some people."
Madahbee says one of the main concerns now is the possibility of attracting too many people at the risk damaging the very environment they have come to enjoy.
"I think people all over the world are looking for a safe place to visit, where they can get back to nature and connect with mother earth. This is the perfect place to do that," says Madahbee.
"I think, together, we can create a very strong tourism industry in Northern Ontario," Rogoza says.
