Developing Capacity for Communtiy Driven Eco Tourism

8/7/2019 Developing Capacity for Communtiy Driven Eco Tourism

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TableofContents

2.0TheTourismIndustry............................................................................................. 62.1IntroductionToTourism.................................................................................................................................6 2.2SustainabilityCriticismsofTourism ........................................ ............................................ ...................... 72.3TourismInDecline ............................................ ........................................... ................................................. .. 112.4SustainableTourism......................................... ............................................ ................................................. . 122.5BirthOfEcotourism .......................................... ............................................ ................................................. . 132.6AboriginalTourism ........................................... ............................................ ................................................ .. 172.7PublicParticipationInTourismDevelopment ........................................... ........................................ 19

DevelopingAnEcotourismProduct ........................................................................... 223.1BackgroundOfProject .................................................................................................................................. 24

3.1.1Arviat ...................................... ........................................... ............................................ .................................... 243.1.2TheACEInitiative .......................................... ............................................ ................................................. . 263.1.3TheMarket......................................... ............................................ ................................................ ................. 28

3.2CommunityConsultation .............................................................................................................................333.2.1Trainingneeds.......................................... ........................................... ................................................. ......... 353.2.2Communityyouth............ ............................................ ................................................. ................................ 363.2.3OtherComplementaryInitiatives .......................................... ........................................... .................... 363.2.4GettingCommunityInvolvement ........................................... ........................................... .................... 373.2.5CommunityParticipationandArnsteinsLadderofParticipation ....................................... .. 38

3.3BuildingCapacity.............................................................................................................................................393.3.1WorkShops ........................................ ............................................ ........................................... ...................... 403.3.2MentoringSmallBusinesses ...................................... ............................................ .................................. 453.3.3TourismDevelopmentOfficer.......................................... ............................................ ........................... 473.3.4AssetMapping .......................................... ........................................... ................................................. ......... 49

4.0S.W.O.T.(Strengths,Weaknesses,OpportunitiesandThreats)ForTourismDevelopmentInArviat .............................................................................................. 50

4.1Strengths ......................................... ........................................... ................................................. ........................ 504.2Weaknesses............. ............................................ ................................................ ............................................ .... 514.3Opportunities ........................................ ............................................ ........................................... ...................... 524.4Threats ...................................... ........................................... ............................................ .................................... 54

5.0Conclusion........................................................................................................... 55

6.0References........................................................................................................... 58

Appendix1:............................................................................................................... 60

Appendix2................................................................................................................ 60

Appendix2................................................................................................................ 63

Appendix3................................................................................................................ 64


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ListofFiguresandTables

Figure1.1InboundTourism,19902007 ..........................................................................2

Table2.1TypesofTourismServices.................................................................................6

Figure2.1InboundTourismByMeansofTransport,2007 ..............................................7

Figure2.1ArnsteinsLadderofPublicParticipation........................................................21

Figure3.1RelationshipBetweenOutboundandInboundOperators............................28

Table3.1IncidenceofWildlifeViewing&AboriginalCulturalExperienceForCanadian

OvernightTravellers. ........................................................................................................30

Table3.2IncidenceofWildlifeViewing&AboriginalCulturalExperienceForU.S.

OvernightTravellers. ........................................................................................................31

Figure3.2MaryThompson,RadioHost .........................................................................33

Figure3.3AbrahamEetak ..............................................................................................36Figure3.4HostWorkshop ..............................................................................................40

Figure3.5GraduatesofArtistsWorkshop .....................................................................42

Figure3.6CommunityMapTapedOnFloor ..................................................................43

Figure3.7GraduatesOfTheSmallBusinessWorkshop.................................................44

Figure3.8MaryOkatsiakAndJeffBarrett .....................................................................45

Figure4.1TraditionalCamp ...........................................................................................50

Figure4.2InukBoy.........................................................................................................51

Figure4.3Grade1ClassDoingSpringCleanup..............................................................53


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ecotourism centers around sustainability, ensuring that tourism operations directly benefit

the host community, create minimal leakage, are low impact, educate the traveler on local

customs, wildlife and the environment and enable conservation (Ceballos-Lascurain,

1996). Indigenous tourism is seen as the great benefactor of this industry. (Ibid) They

and the lands that they inhabit represent the essence of that which ecotourism aims to

protect. From an ideological point of view, most aboriginal people can be seen as the

poster children for ecotourism; they often have a close relationship to the land, they

possess traditional knowledge to teach visitors, they often struggle financially and as such

struggle to conserve their lands. In theory it is the perfect marriage, however the

practical reality of this marriage is often much more complicated. Most aboriginal

Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Inbound Tourism, 1990-2007

Figure1.1


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communities, especially remote ones, lack the capacity to develop and operate tourism of

any nature. Ecotourism and the protection and conservation of lands often falls into

conflict with indigenous hunting rights and practices. (Goodwin, 2005)

The ecotourism literature primarily focuses on the principles of ecotourism

and best case practices for ecotourism, (Fennell, 1999; Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996;

Honey, 1994) on policy creation for ecotourism (Liu, 1994; Go, 1992, Fennell, 2008,

World ecotourism summit final report, 2002) and the certification of ecotourism

(Goodwin, 1996, Honey, 1994; The Nature and Accreditation Program; The Mohonk

Agreement). Within aboriginal tourism, like ecotourism much of the literature focuses on

the principals and issues involved with aboriginal tourism (Gerbericc, 2005; Ryan, 2005;

Goodwin, 2005; McKercher, 1993) and the need for self-determination and public

participation (Bell, 1999; Zeppel, 1998; Notzke, 1999; Cornell and Kalt, 1990, 1998;

Elias, 1991, 1997; Bell, 1999)

There is a gap in the literature with regards to development of ecotourism and

aboriginal tourism beyond defining what it would and should look like and its policy

creation. How do we get to this ideal platform of ecotourism where the industry benefits

the community yet protects the community and the environments integrity? What are

the steps to develop capacity within an indigenous community to create a community

owned and operated ecotourism industry? There is a large amount of focus of the

literature on existing aboriginal and ecotourism, it often assumes tourism development

will occur on its own fruition, however there is very little literature on creating

ecotourism from a blank slate; on developing capacity for ecotourism.

The A.C.E. (Arviat Community Ecotourism) Initiative is a program with an intent


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to do exactly that: create a community owned and operated ecotourism program.

Ecotourism is a set of principles a philosophy, but in order to achieve it, a product has

to be built. You cannot ignore the philosophy when you build the product but the focus

must be on the economics and the business of ecotourism development. The ACE

Initiative focuses on building an ecotourism program from the ground up: on training and

workshops, on community participation in creating products, on business development,

marketing and mentoring. It will develop the community of Arviat to be a viable

ecotourism destination, with a focus on culture and wildlife viewing.

This paper will review the industry of tourism as a whole and its importance

as a global industry. It evaluates the industries sustainability and decline. It defines

ecotourism in opposition to tourism and the principals necessary for its existence and

outlines how indigenous tourism is innately tied to this philosophy of tourism. It defines

public participation and its importance in creating and sustaining aboriginal ecotourism.

It will give an overview of the ACE Initiative as a means to create a community owned

and operated ecotourism industry that meet the principles laid out by the fathers of

Ecotourism. It argues that Ecotourism is a philosophy but at the heart of it is an industry

that consists of businesses. In order to develop a true ecotourism initiative the focus

needs to be on the economics of the industry. It will argue that more research and focus

needs to be placed upon practical implementation and development of ecotourism

businesses in order to meet the mandate laid out by the principles of ecotourism and be

sustainable over the long term.


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2.0TheTourismIndustry_________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.1IntroductionToTourismThe term tourist first found its way into the Oxford dictionary in 1800 where it was

defined as an individual who travels for the pleasure of travelling, and the word

tourism followed shortly in 1811. (Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996) Obviously the concept of

tourism goes back considerably farther, in that mankind has always had a propensity

towards exploration and travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as

people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more

than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the

exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited".

(http://www.unwto.org) The industry can be divided into two categories: the point of

origin or country of departure and the country of destination or host country. Table 2

outlines the different operations and businesses associated with each of the two

categories. As is reflected the tourism industry is incredibly diverse and far-reaching in

both the destination and point of departure. Furthermore there are a variety of secondary

and tierchiary industries associated with tourism that rely on an injection of foreign

currency into the markets. (Ceballos-Lascurain, 1994)


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Country Of Departure Host Country

Travel agenciesOutbound tour operators

(wholesalers)AirlinesCruise linesCar rental agenciesCredit Card CompaniesPR FirmsAd FirmsTourist bureausMedia

Tour operatorsGround TransportationGuidesAccommodationsRestaurantsNational and Private ParksRecreational Activities

2.2SustainabilityCriticismsofTourism

At the heart of the criticisms of tourism is its lack of sustainability. The Brundtland

Report (A report by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1983)

defines sustainability as the ability to meet the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Often scholars

talk of the three Es, the three pillars or the triple bottom line of sustainable development;

they refer in a variety of manners, to a concept that the social, economic and

environmental aspects of community development are interdependent, and without

sustainability in all three of these areas, a system will ultimately fail in the long run (Farr,

2008) Tourism in many circumstances has failed and is currently failing in all three of

these areas.

Environmental

Table2.1

Source:Honey,1994

TypesofTourismServices:CountryofDeparturevs.HostCountry


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Because of the nature of tourism, traveling or moving to places outside their usual

environment, there is a reliance on enormous quantities of petroleum. Table 3 shows the

breakdown of means of inbound transportation for 2007. The industrys reliance on

planes and automobiles causes a great deal of carbon emissions. This is a permanent fact

concerning the industry, as unless an alternative mode of transportation or fuel is

invented, the industry will have to continue to rely on petroleum to power the vehicles

that will bring in tourists. Another ecologically unsustainable attribute of tourism is the

large-scale developments associated with creating destinations that tourists visit.

Creation of new tourism destinations tends to be in pristine or valuable lands, with high

Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Inbound tourism by means of transport, 2007 (share)

Figure2.1


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impact to local ecosystems both in its building and operations. (Honey, 1994) The

operations of resorts and hotels, regardless of their location, have a propensity for large-

scale wastage. This comes from large volumes of people consuming at higher than

normal levels, causing large amounts of waste and water consumption.

Economic

The 1980s saw a trend of the creation of large international conglomerations of travel

businesses. These corporations began to buy up smaller tourist operations in all levels of

the industry, including: travel agencies, air lines, ground transportation, hotels, tours, and

cruise lines. The result was a handful of corporations owning all aspects of the global

tourism industry. The capital that these companies are able to levee for development

projects is often too tantalizing for developing countries to resist. They look to these

foreign investors for capital or for direst ownership, and inevitably loose control of their

own industry. (Honey, 1994) Today it is not unusual to travel to a different continent

and pay one company, either directly or indirectly, for all aspects of the trip.

There are a number of problems that arise with this model. First, having control of

the industry in the hands of a foreign corporation causes an outflow of profits from the

host country to the country of ownership. This is referred to as leakage. (Fennell, 1999)

Second, other income should come to the host country through development of

infrastructure: building labor, materials, and furniture / supply purchasing, as well as

employment and food purchasing. However, in the case of developing world tourism

initiatives, these aspects are often imported externally to ensure better quality.

Management positions are brought in from countries with higher levels of education,

furniture and materials are brought from places with higher quality craftsmanship, and


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even food is often imported to allow tourists to eat the cuisine in which they are

accustomed to. (Ibid) Third, often the volume of visitors damages local resources. This

occurs through pollution from resorts (often taking advantage of lax environmental

regulations, especially in developing countries), and degradation of natural areas through

over use. Lastly, an influx of consumers increases demand and causes inflation. This is

reflected in higher prices for food and land, which in an economy that is not directly

benefiting from the industry causing the inflation, can be very devastating for local

peoples. (Wahab & Pigram, 1997)

The result is an industry that removes profits from the host country while injecting

very little back into the local economy and hinders other economic development by

destroying resources and causing inflation. Clearly this is not economically sustainable

for the local population.

Social

Problems with social sustainability usually arise in situations where different cultures and

income levels are interacting, for example Westerner and Muslim, or rich and poor.

Mostly this is due to a lack of infrastructure and local experience to deal with an influx in

tourists. Local cultures can find the practices and conduct of the visitors offensive. For

example the resort town of Mumbasa, Kenya, a Muslim community, has seen a dramatic

rise of tourism in the last decade. As is the case of many Muslim communities, Mumbasa

is a dry community that follows strict Muslim practices. However, the Mumbasa tourism

industry is based on sun and sand tourism and alcohol has an important part within this

sector. The resorts have been allowed to ignore Muslim laws but the results of this have

had serious social effects on the local population. Prostitution is rampant, drug use is on


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the rise as well as a high level of alcohol use amongst teenagers. (Ceballos Lascurain,

1996) Martha Honey in her book Ecotourism and Certification argues that when

tourists are isolated from the local population in guarded enclaves they will often prey

upon them for sexual and other services or contribute otherwise to degradation of local

health and culture. (Honey, 1994, p.103)

Issues also arise out of resorts taking over a communitys most scenic areas and the

establishment of parks, which control the type of land usage that will occur. Local

people will often not have access to their own lands or do so in a restricted manner.

(Honey, 1994) The resulting lack of involvement of local people can cause friction

between tourists and locals. With regards to parks, a failure to have local stakeholders

involvement, can result in the degradation of the parks through poaching, poor

agricultural practices on adjoining lands and illegal deforestation. (Ceballos-Lascurain,

1996)

2.3TourismInDecline

The lack of sustainability of tourism, as discussed above, led to a large surge in back lash

and animosity towards this industry. The environmental movement of the 1960s and

70s was leading towards a desire for more socially responsible tourism. Citizens and

governments of less developed regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America were becoming

disillusioned by the industrys leakage of tourist dollars. Community and church groups,

particularly in Thailand, began to form campaigns against the ills of mass tourism,

particularly child prostitution. At the same time there was a global outcry from the

destruction of habitat and species in Africa and Asia. Emerging from this was the idea


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that protected areas could only work if local people saw a direct benefit from tourism.

(Honey, 1994)

The World Bank, which had been heavily subsidizing tourism development in the

third world, came to view mass tourism as a poor development strategy and began pulling

funding. As well trends in the tourism industry were showing people moving away from

traditional mass tourism activities such as sand and sun vacations and cruises. They were

beginning to search out more exotic, smaller scale, and non-mainstream vacations. What

began to emerge was an interest in so-called sustainable tourism. (Ibid)

2.4SustainableTourism

Likesustainabledevelopmentthetermsustainabletourismisstillwidelydebated.

(Butler, 1999) Butler (1999) argues that the essence of sustainable tourism is

simplytourismwhichisinaformwhichcanmaintainitsviabilityinanareaforan

infiniteperiod of time. (Butler, 1993; p.29) E.g. Niagara Falls, Paris, London or

Rome.(Ibid)However,hegoesontoarguethatthisisnotusuallywhatisimplied

bytheterm,butrather:

Tourism which is developed and maintained in an area (community,

environment)insuchamannerandatsuchascalethatitremainsviableoveraninfiniteperiodanddoesnotdegradeoraltertheenvironment(humanand

physical) inwhich it exists to such adegree that itprohibits the successful

developmentandwellbeingof other activities and processes. (Butler1993;p.29)

Masstourismbyitsverynaturehasdifficultyinfulfillingthisdefinition.Howeverso

too do a variety of forms of tourism, which are often linked to sustainable

development. These are often associated with so called alternative or green


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tourismconcepts.(SmithandEadington,1992)Butler(1999)arguesthatitisnave

tobelievethatsimplybecausesomethingisnaturefocuseddoesnotmeanthatitis

automaticallysustainableorwillhavefewerimpactsthanlargescaledevelopments.

Heargues thatmany formsofalternative tourism, such asecotourism, are often

locatedonenvironmentallysensitiveareasandwhichlackinfrastructureorcapacity

todealwithanyformofdevelopment.(Butler,1999)Whilethismaybetruefor

manyalternativetourismconcepts,theessenceofEcotourismwasderivedtomeet

theneedsofthebasicelementsofsustainabledevelopment.ThoughButlerisoften

right with regards to the current practice of ecotourism often degrading the

environmentwhichitwasaimingtoprotect, Iwouldarguethatthisisduetothe

blurringof the definitionofecotourism (whichwill be discussed inthe following

chapter)andthelackofcapacitytoproperlyrunecotourismbusinesseswhichisthe

cruxofthispaper.

2.5BirthOfEcotourism

The origin of Ecotourism is widely debated. Most agree that its definition spawned from

the work of Ceballos-Lascurain in the early 1980s (Fennell, 1999). What is clear is that

ecotourism was a response to the demand for more socially responsible tourism. David

Fennell in his book Ecotourism: An Introduction, sums this movement up best when he

states, It arose from a dissatisfaction with conventional tourism, which ignored social

and ecological elements of foreign regions in favor of a more anthropocentric and strictly

profit centered approach to the delivery of tourism products. (Fennell, 2008; p.30)

Ceballos-Lascurain defined ecotourism as travelling to relatively undisturbed or


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uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring, and

enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals as well as any existing cultural

manifestations found in these areas. (Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996) But it has evolved into

more than this. Ceballos-Lascurains definition does not take into account the social and

ecological benefits that ecotourism should provide. The International Ecotourism

Society, one of ecotourisms leading NGOs promoting the support and promulgation of

ecotourism, defines ecotourism as "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the

environment and improves the well-being of local people." (TIES, 1990) Goodwin,

1996 defines ecotourism as low impact nature tourism which contributes to the

maintenance of species and habitats either directly through a contribution to conservation

and/or indirectly by providing revenue to the local community sufficient for local people

to value, and therefore protect, their heritage area as a source of income. (Goodwin,

19996; p.288)

Ecotourism represents a solution to a great deal of the sustainability problems that

mass tourism presents. In its purest sense the definition brings together the 3 levels of

sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. This next section will brake down

the benefits of ecotourism to all three of these areas of sustainability.

Economic

The nature of ecotourisms encouragement of small-scale operations allows for smaller

grass roots tourism operations. Mass tourism had a huge barrier to entry, namely capital

investment and the knowledge and expertise to run it. However smaller scale operations,

allows for very little barriers to entry and smaller isolated communities have the ability to

create their own industries.


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Another problem with mass tourism is that travel trends often change and when that

happens massive scale resorts can become empty almost instantaneously. What happens

to the infrastructure when such a thing occurs? Smaller scale tourism does two things:

First, it limits the risk of this occurring by lowering the over head associated with start up

and thus the risk associated. Second, by limiting the supply you allow for the demand to

stay high.

Environmental

One of the driving factors towards ecotourism is its potential to help in the protection of

wilderness and wildlife both directly and indirectly. By enabling local communities to

gain direct benefits from tourism it encourages locals to value wildlife and wilderness

and be apart of its protection and stewardship. Poaching, poor agricultural practices and

deforestation will only hinder their own economic benefits. (Honey, 1994) Active

involvement of the community is a far more effective and cost reducing form of

wilderness protection and management.

An essential part of ecotourism is the nature of the facility: how it is built, designed

and operated. Buildings must not only have minimal impact when being constructed but

also once they are operating. A key part of certification programs (see chapter on

certification) is the facility. Much criteria and checklists are associated with how the site

was built, the materials used (e.g. local, recycled, etc.), how much energy and water is

used, how the site drainage works, how waste is disposed of, how much waste is created,

is there recycling, etc. The idea is to be low impact in size but also in practice.

A key aspect of ecotourism philosophy is its encouragement of education. This is

primarily to do with ecological education; the plants, wildlife, and geology as well as


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cultural but it is also environmental. Ecotourism encourages the education of

environmental issues and practices to mitigate these. (Honey, 1994) By staying in an

ecolodge, an accommodation that would have systems in place to minimize its impact

on the surrounding environment1, one can learn how to live alternatively. It sends an

example for future development. In fact ecotourism as a philosophy is an example of

how humans will have to live in order to mitigate and adapt to the changes brought about

by climate change.

Social

This small scale and grass roots type of tourism allows the local population to be apart of

the process and the results. In doing so locals become stake-holders and have a vested

interest in the businesss success. They will not feel as though foreign invaders have

come and taken their best land and altered their way of life. Instead it is they who will

invite outsiders in and share their lands with a small group of fortunate tourists. Because

of the nature of small-scale development it will not take away as much from the local

communitys existing life style. They will not see a massive change in their day-to-day

lifestyle in culture that would occur in the mass tourism model.

Because ecotourism educates the traveler on local culture and customs, the tourists

will ideally be more respectful to the local community and act accordingly.

1Thiscouldincludealternativeenergysources,passivesolar,useoflocalorrecycledmaterials,

systemstoharnessrainwaterandreusegreywater,useoflocalfoods,etc.)


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skills and arts and crafts, revitalizing traditions and knowledge previously thought

unimportant but it also threatens to give ownership to those skills and designs and the

ways of thoughts of which they are an expression. (Ryan, 2005) It will bring about a re-

emergence of culture but it will commodify that culture and turn it into a profit making

business. (Ibid, 2005) It aims to protect land but in doing so can hinder those indigenous

peoples livelihoods who rely on resource gathering. (Goodwin, 2005)

McKercher argues that there are certain consequences in establishing a tourism

development in a region that must be addressed and communities must be made aware of

these consequences before development is established (McKercher, 1993). Many scholars

argue that for any type of economic development to occur there is a need for Community

Empowerment. (Bell, 1999; Zeppel, 1998; Notzke, 1999) Indeed at the core of the

literature on Aboriginal Community Development is the argument that self-determination

is the foundation for sustained community development. (Cornell and Kalt, 1990, 1998;

Elias, 1991, 1997; Bell, 1999)

However self-determination requires the capacity to understand the direction that

needs to be taken. With regards to developing industry, capacity has to be achieved in

the form of understanding the nature of the industry and how to implement it. Most

indigenous communities severely lack any capacity for tourism, especially ecotourism.

The gaining of capacity for tourism development takes the form of education of

ecotourism for the community in order to determine how it is to be implemented and the

direction it will take; but it is also is in the form of training those that will participate in

the front end delivery of the product.


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2.7PublicParticipationInTourismDevelopment

Public participation is critical to achieving a healthy tourism product in any community,

but it is an even more important element in indigenous tourism development in remote

areas that lack capacity for tourism development. In that public participation will help

with community support of the development but more importantly it will serve as a tool

for capacity building enabling them to control and manage their own industry. Moreover

as this lack of capacity will require consultants, experts and external support to develop

the initial program, without public participation the community will not feel any

ownership over the end result, even if in the end they would control it.

For any tourism initiative to be sustainable over the long term it needs buy in from

the local community, as these are the people that will ultimately live with the tourism

development. (Rosenow and Pulsipher, 1979) Go (1992) refers to this as resident

responsive tourism. Public participation gives stakeholders a seat at the decision making

table so that they are involved in tourist development outcomes. Haywood (1988) argues

that public participation can legitimize tourism development. He suggests that,

Community participation in tourism planning is a process of involving all relevantand interested parties (local government officials, local citizens, architects,developers, business people, and planners) in such a way that decision making isshared. (Haywood, 1988; 106)

Not including residents in the planning process has been argued to be one of the major

contributors of tourism destinations failure. (Murphy, 1985; Getz, 1983) Murphy (1985)

states that a tourism destination requires:

the goodwill and cooperation of host communities it is the citizen who will livewith the cumulative outcome of such a development needs to have a greater inputinto how his community is packaged and sold as a tourist product.

Community residents are often seen as the essential element in the hospitality


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participation can take many forms. Arnsteins (1969) Ladder of Citizen Participation

(Figure 1) shows the various levels of citizen participation and argues the further down

his ladder the participation is deemed to be, the more the participation is a token

effort.

Osaki (2009) argues that communities need to move up through the various stages of the

ladder, as they develop the capacity and confidence to become more important players.

In that, a community cannot begin with citizen control or partnership in a tourism

development, especially in remote indigenous communities, they have to develop

capacity to understand and operate within the industry before they can ultimately run it

Figure2.2:ArnsteinsLadderofPublicParticipation


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and control it.

DevelopingAnEcotourismProduct______________________________________________________________________

The principles of ecotourism are important in understanding the end goal of the product

development. Ecotourism policy is important for helping governments to determine how

to protect lands and promote ecotourism. However the main tenant of ecotourism is the

creation of significant benefits to the local community primarily through ownership and

involvement, therefore the most critical aspect of ecotourism development should be on

how to develop capacity for ecotourism within a destination community. Empowerment

comes from ownership and control, but as mentioned above the communities that stand to

gain the most from ecotourism usually lack the ability to implement and operate it. The

planning, training, development and implementation of an ecotourism product is key to

the creation and perpetuation of this concept. Perhaps in many places in the world where

ecotourism is burgeoning, the development of the product is a given it is easy to

accomplish. However, in many places this is not the case, most of which, for this reason

they have not yet developed an ecotourism industry. This is especially true in Canadas

North. There ecotourism development is constricted by remoteness, extreme weather,

and lack of education. As well, in a country lacking certification programs and any

formal governing body, the implementation of an ecotourism product that actually

follows the principles laid out in its original format, is also not a given. Therefore, it is

important to understand how to develop an ecotourism program in communities that lack


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3.1BACKGROUND OF PROJECT

________________________________________________________________________

3.1.1Arviat

The Nunavut government, through the assistance of The Tourism Company reviewed a

number of communities within the 3 regions of Nunavut for tourism development

viability. This review was based on a number of criteria including: physical access to

Market (flying time / price, Arviat), infrastructure, product potential, capacity for tourism

operations, etc. The Government Of Nunavut determined that it would select 1

destination in each of the 3 regions of Nunavut and begin to fund tourism development

programs. The different communities would have a different focus based upon the

product focus. For instance Cape Dorset was selected for its art. Funding is scheduled to

be provided for infrastructure development, primarily for a building to house and sell the

vast amount of art that is and has been created in that community. Arviat was selected

for its accessibility to the south, its proximity to Churchill (a major center for tourism), its

abundant amount of wildlife including a massive Polar Bear migration in the fall and a

rich intact Inuit culture with a central focus on music.

Arviat is the southern most community in Nunavut, Canada. It is located 400 km

north of Churchill, Manitoba on the coast of Hudson Bay. According to 2006 Statscan

census information, the Hamlet consists of 2050 people and is predominantly Inuit in

composition (96%). It has the highest birthrate in Canada and currently consists of more

children (under 15) than adults. The employment rate is 43.3 and the unemployment rate

is 13. The primary industry is government work, both Hamlet and Territorial, followed

by educational services, health care and social services.


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(http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-

591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=6205015&Geo2=PR&Code2=62&

Data=Count&SearchText=Arviat&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=62&B1=All&Custo

m= )

Arviat is still a very traditional community. There is a great many people that still

rely on country food harvesting for survival. With extremely high cost of grocery store

foods even those not engaged in daily hunting rely on country food to off set food costs.

Inuktitut is the first language. In the elementary school teaching is conducted 80/20

Inuktitut/English, in the high school level it is 60/40. Most young children and elders do

not speak English. There is a rich heritage and artistic culture; the community has

exported a few notable musicians including Susan Aglukark. There are a number of

drum dances that occur regularly both informally, in peoples homes, and formally in the

community center. There is a music festival that happens annually. There are a great

number of talented artists including: carvers, clothing makers, wall hanging creators and

print makers. There are a few people that make traditional clothing and tools at this point

primarily just to perpetuate their culture. Many still hunt and travel with dog sled teams.

Arviat also has a rich natural heritage. The community is directly on the

migratory paths of a number of species including: a variety of bird species, caribou,

beluga whales and Polar Bears. The fall season (September - November) has always

seen large amounts of Polar Bears moving North from Churchill waiting to go out on the

sea ice. Recently, due to a warming climate, more and more bears are spending their

summers farther north than in previous years. Many elders believe that Churchill will


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eventually loose its bear population and Arviat will in turn become closer in proximity to

polar bear summering grounds.

The concept of ecotourism was quite foreign to this community. They understood

tourism through small exposure to day-trippers from Churchill in the late 80s and sport

hunters. The sport hunting tourism was a simple concept as it fell in line with their own

culture, however the concept of going to simply view birds and animals, of catching fish

and releasing them, of going for a hike just for the sake of it and of looking at plant and

fauna life is a completely foreign concept.

3.1.2TheACEInitiative

A team of tourism product and marketing specialists (The Tourism Company team) was

retained by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI) in October 2009 to begin implementing the

Arviat Community Ecotourism Initiative (ACE). Funding for the team of specialists

involved in implementing this program is being provided in large part from the

Conservation Areas Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement (CA IIBA). The team of

specialists provide expertise in areas such as hospitality, marketing, guide training,

community tourism program development, and community consultation. In each of these

areas the intent is for the specialists to work with local trainees to begin to develop the

necessary capacities within the community to sustain the program once it is up and

running as a viable community owned and operated ecotourism enterprise.

The Arviat ecotourism project presents an opportunity to develop an

internationally competitive and unique wildlife viewing and Inuit cultural experience that

does not exist in the marketplace. It presents an opportunity to create a true community-


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based tourism enterprise that maximizes local involvement, employment and control. It

represents an opportunity to create a product from the ground up that will instill the

values that ecotourism espouses. The Arviat ecotourism project could be a success model

for Northern tourism by 2013.

The central idea is to attach this community cultural program/experience to as

many land-based and wildlife-viewing programs as possible to create week long and

possibly multi-week programs and packages (as illustrated in the following diagram). The

program has identified a variety of interested stakeholders and potential operators. These

were identified through calls for interest (using a variety of methods that will be

discussed later on in this paper), field research, key informative interviews and providing

hours for drop-ins. The end goal is to identify and develop a variety of products

including: accommodations, food services, tours, and cultural performances in order to

create a market ready product for packaging and sales. The program has begun to mentor

and assist a variety of individuals involved and/or interested in being involved with these

products with training, business start up / planning and funding applications. The

program will also identify areas for improvement to existing infrastructure including

accommodations, signage, visitors center, walking / interpretive trails, and community

beautification and assist with planning, acquisition of funding and implementation. Once

it is determined that the product is ready The Tourism Company will implement a

comprehensive marketing plan that includes: web presence (links to web site through:

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other media sites), partnerships with outbound operators

and training members of the community to attend and market at trade shows. Table 4

shows the relationship with external outbound operators to local inbound operators.


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Figure 3.1: Relationship Between Outbound and Inbound Operators

3.1.3TheMarket

In the initial development of this project it was important to assess the viability of

tourism in Arviat. One cannot begin to plan for tourism with out the understanding of

what that tourism, if any will consist of. It is critical to understand an areas viability.

Once that is proven, the next step is understanding the nature of the target market and

how the products should be geared towards those interests.


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Arviat is located in close proximity to Churchill, which sees a significant number

of annual visitors from May through to November. Churchill operators have expressed a

desire from their clients to experience more authentic cultural Inuit experiences than the

Churchill operators can provide. Many are keen to bring their clients to Arviat to achieve

this. This is an obvious avenue for entry of Arviat into the tourism industry. (The

Tourism Company

Arviat is also one of the most southern Nunavut communities and is thus more

accessible than other arctic locations. The following is an overview of the markets being

targeted through the ACE initiative. Table 3.1 illustrates the numbers of Canadian

overnight pleasure travelers in 2004/05 that participated in relevant wildlife viewing and

Aboriginal cultural experiences. They clearly show the larger market interest in wildlife

viewing, but still very sizeable markets with an interest in both wildlife viewing and

cultural experiences. The Canadian market for Arviat product would be a sub segment of

these interest markets. Approximately 2.5% of the wildlife travelers stayed in a remote

fly-in wilderness lodge. These travelers have a higher than typical propensity for active

outdoor activities like hiking, boating, paddling, wilderness activities and snowmobiling

and ATVing. If we assume the broad market pool of Canadian travelers is those

interested in wildlife viewing and staying at a remote wilderness lodge the market size

would be close to 200,000 people, or close to 90,000 interested in an Aboriginal cultural

experience and staying at a remote wilderness lodge.


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Table 3.1

Source: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=87M0015X

Table 3.2 shows the comparative figures for the US overnight pleasure traveler market.

Once again wildlife viewing is of larger market interest but the size of the segment with

an interest in Aboriginal cultural experiences is large in absolute terms. If we assume the

market opportunity for Arviat is the US travelers with an interest in wildlife viewing and

staying in a remote wilderness lodge the number is close to 900,000 people, while the

equivalent number for those interested in Aboriginal cultural experiences and staying in

remote wilderness lodges is close to 700,000. (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-

cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=87M0015X)


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Table 3.2

Source: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=87M0015X

The CTC (Canadian Tourism Commission) Explorer Quotient market segments provide

further insight into the product/experience interests of US, Canadian and overseas

pleasure travelers that could be interested in the Arviat experience. The two segments

most relevant from a marketing perspective are Authentic Experiences (representing 12%

of the Canadian travel market, 13% of the US and 14% of the German markets) and

Cultural Explorers (representing 12% of Canadian, 13% of US and 14% of German

traveler markets). The following are short product interest profiles of these Explorer

types.


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Authentic Experiences

o Like to integrate into local cultures, eat authentic foods and learn

the language, learn all they can about cultures

o Seeking to live as authentically as locals

o Travel is about personal development

o Most highly educated and affluent segment

o Look for outdoor adventures beautiful landscapes, wildlife,

historical/cultural sites

o Website is the gateway to a business for this market

o Into ethical consumption and understated travel

Cultural Explorers

o

Seek authentic experiences

o Educated and fairly affluent

o Not afraid to venture into the unknown

o Travel is a journey not a destination

o Interest in Aboriginal culture

o Aside from hiking and walking not into outdoor activities

(http://en-

corporate.canada.travel/Corporate/Flyout.page?id=294&fid=648)


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Interest in Arctic and Antarctic tourism is growing. At present Norway (Svalbard

Islands), Greenland, Antarctica, Alaska and certain areas in Canada are the main

destinations for tourists looking to experience arctic activities and northern wildlife. It is

estimated there are over 20,000 people who visit Churchill every year to view wildlife.

From interviews with operators running tours into Churchill it is evident that a proportion

of this market has an interest in venturing further north and having a more intimate

experience with wildlife, as well as experiencing the Inuit culture. (Polar Tourism Market

Research Report, 2008 The Tourism Company)

3.2COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

________________________________________________________________________

Once it was determined that Arviat was a viable tourism destination the next step was to

determine whether the community was interested in developing tourism and in what

capacity. The Tourism Company conducted a community consultation for the Arviat

tourism initiative over an 8-day period beginning in late October 2009. The consultation

built on the initial community work conducted back in January 2009. Consultation

techniques employed included a radio

show, drop-ins at a local hotel, the

Visitors Centre, and group and individual

meetings. Judging from the response to

the various consultation techniques used

in Arviat, there is strong interest and

support for some type of tourismFigure3.2:MaryThompsonRadioHost.My

Arviatmother,doingherweeklyradio

program.


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development, particularly if it is community based and will benefit many community

members. At no time were there expressed concerns about having tourists come to the

community, or any kind of desire not to have tourism in Arviat. There is some

experience with sport hunting and staging cultural performances in Churchill. There is

also experience in tourism dating back to the 1980s when Arviat first developed a

tourism program through the efforts of a single operator, who, though living in the

community, was not Inuit. This experience has resulted in mixed feelings from various

members of the community. On one hand, some of those that were involved in some

capacity were disappointed that it ended and enjoyed the nature of their work and the

added income. Others felt that it showed how tourism is not sustainable and that to try

again to bring it into the community again is not realistic. Some were resentful of the

nature of the tourism, as for the most part they were just day trips from Churchill, some

felt that the outbound operators were taking advantage of Arviat. (Arviat Community

Consultation Summary, 2009)

Arviat has a high unemployment rate and an extremely high amount of children.

The people of Arviat realize that there will be a severe lack of jobs and opportunity for

their children in the next couple of years. To many in the community, tourism represents

added job and opportunities for the youth. However, there is little understanding of

tourism and little knowledge of the negative impacts of tourism. Unfortunately, the sad

reality is that this will take a back seat when it comes to developing opportunities for the

community. The key element that is expressed from community members is community

control. Community control will empower the community to respond to negative

situations as they appear. Also it is important to point out that due to the geographic


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location of the community, the enormous expense of travel to it, and the nature of the

community this will never be a mass tourism industry. As well, also due to the nature of

the community and the conflict that may arise between hunting and ecotourism much of

the tourism activities will be well outside of the community.

In conducting the community consultation it became clear that Arviat is a very

traditional community with many traditional skills still in use. There was expressed

interest in the tourism initiative from a range of locals with diverse skills such as:

Drum dancing;

Traditional games;

Storytelling;

Traditional garment making;

Land skills;

Arts and crafts;

Local history;

Guides sport hunters and cultural programs;

Computers and the internet;

Small businesses.

3.2.1Trainingneeds

It was recognized that there would be a need for a range of training and mentoring

initiatives to begin to develop the human resource capacity for the tourism program.

Some of the comments made by locals in this regard are listed below:

The High School would like to add a tourism and hospitality curriculum;


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People generally would like to know what is expected for tourists;

Hunters/guides need training in working with tourists, especially eco-tourists;

People generally want to know how to treat the tourists;

Young people can be careless, they need to learn appropriate behavior;

Need lots of time for training and practice;

Need a town cleanup every year just before the tourists come.

3.2.2Communityyouth

There were a number of young people that expressed an interest in getting involved in

tourism. The entire Grade 11 language class came to the drop in session at the Visitor

Centre, with many students expressing an interest in tourism opportunities. The High

School expressed a strong interest in getting

involved in the tourism initiative i.e.

catering a lunch of traditional foods in the

gym, providing tours of the jewelry and

carving shops, and staging a cultural

performance in the gym.

3.2.3OtherComplementaryInitiatives

There are a number of other tourism concepts being considered in the community that

could be complementary to this Ecotourism Initiative. For example the Hunters and

Trappers Organization (HTO) have developed a concept for a lodge adjacent to the

Figure3.3:AbrahamEetak,.

Accomplishedjewelerandartist.


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McConnell River Bird Sanctuary, which lies just to the south of the community. They

have hired a consultant to complete a feasibility assessment on the lodge. If this or any of

the other lodges being considered in and around Arviat are developed to market-ready

standards they would be incorporated into the community tourism initiative.

3.2.4GettingCommunityInvolvement

The secondary part of the consultation program was also the beginning of the

development stage. It was necessary to determine who would be interested in getting

involved in tourism development but also it was key to encourage involvement. It is

important to the program to have as many interested and involved people as possible.

The same techniques were used to get participation ideally in the initial form of coming

out to a series of workshops. An additional technique was the use of posters around the

community to explain the tenants of ecotourism, the ACE Initiative and advertise the

workshops (see appendix 2). The workshops would introduce them to ecotourism and the

components of the ACE Initiative, begin training and through their input begin to

document the assets of the community and develop a product.

It became quite evident from the onset that this was a community with a great

deal of apathy. It was very difficult to get turn outs for any type of public information

meetings. Radio became an important outlet as this was widely listened to in the

community. ACE was forced early on to realize that any type of workshop or training

program needed to be paid. This is a sad reality of the North and indeed many of the

reserves that I have worked and visited across the country.


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3.2.5CommunityParticipationandArnsteinsLadderofParticipation

After analysis of this community participation program set up by the ACE Initiative, I

would argue that the community is currently in the consultation phase of Arsteins ladder

(1969). Arnstein argues that this is considered tokenism that the community doesnt truly

have any power, and that those with power, though they are going through the motions of

public consultation, are not actually relinquishing any power. (Arnstein, 1969) Indeed

the consulting firm and the government of Nunavut who are funding the program possess

much of the power at this stage. It is up to them how the program is conducted, the

format that it takes, and who is paid for various services. The community is asked to

participate and asked many questions about how and what they wish to develop but

ultimately the decision making at this point lies outside of the community.

According to Osaki (2009) communities need to progress through Arnsteins

ladder of participation from lowest to highest gaining empowerment and capacity for

control as they go through the process. Indeed this is the theory that the ACE Initiative is

ultimately following. One cannot relinquish full power at the beginning of any

community development project, as, based on their need for development, the community

lacks the capacity to do so. The ACE Initiative begins with tokenism in public

consultation but it is the end goal to end with citizen power. The objective is to build

capacity in the form of: understanding ecotourism, understanding the market and their

potential clients, understanding risks associated with tourism, understanding hospitality,

developing small businesses and training business owners in order to be sustainable in

their business development. The more capacity for tourism development and operations


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a community achieves the more they will naturally take control and ownership of the

products and processes within.

This project differs from many other tourism development initiatives as it is not

based on a partnership between foreign investment or external investment and members

of a local community. Though the consultants are external, and though they currently

control the process, their end goal is to walk away and leave the community with a

sustainable long-term program. However, in any business venture there will always be

successful businesses and those that fail. Therefore there will always be some members

of the community possessing more power and control over the industry than others. That

is the reality of business, however, ultimately power and control will rest within the

community.

3.3BUILDING CAPACITY

________________________________________________________________________

I spent 6 weeks in Arviat this summer (2010) implementing the beginning stages of

capacity development within the community for tourism. This primarily took the form of

developing human capacity but also physical capacity in the form of some infrastructure

recommendations. At the same time I was developing the products that the program

would eventually sell. There was very little division or distinction between capacity

development and product development. The product is the people; what skills they

possess what knowledge they have of the land, their culture and history. My role was not

to come in with answers of how they should run a tourism program. My role was to offer

insight and perspective as to what tourists will expect and want to do here. I offered the

southern perspective; whats interesting, what will sell. I sought out various pieces of


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interest within the community, people with unique skills, or business ideas, areas of

interest that would be of value to a tourist and began to seam them together to eventually

build a package for tourist operators to buy. I acted as a facilitator to bring people and

ideas together to coach out partnerships and business ideas. This was primarily done

through workshops, which introduced the concepts of ecotourism and packaging. It was

also done through mentoring small business startups, interviews with key people in the

community, exploration of assets in and around the community, and research into aspects

of the communitys history and culture.

3.3.1WorkShops

Workshops were divided into 3 main categories: Artists which included both visual and

performance; Hosts / Storytellers which was comprised of both young people and

elders and was designed to train people for community tours, interpreting cultural sites,

history within

the community,

and developing

some of the

historical and

cultural assets in

and around the

community; and

Small

Businesses Figure3.4:HostWorkshop.JeffBarrettfacilitatingIglooExercise.


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which was geared at people that wanted or had already developed a small tourism

business. In October of 2010 there will be a two-week eco-guide training course and in

November of the same year there will be a one-week introduction course to hospitality.

Each workshop consisted of 3, 3-hour sessions. We put 20 people through all 3

workshops (approx. 7 people per group). These workshops acted as an introduction to

ecotourism and laid some solid foundations in terms of developing products and

establishing personnel. It was a great way for a lot of people and myself to get

introduced to the program and provided a great basis for the future development of the

program in terms of trust and respect.

The value of these workshops was only in an introductory manner. The

communitys understanding of ecotourism and their current capacity for hosting tourists

is extremely limited. These were not detailed training workshops. The participants were

exposed to the various aspects and principles of ecotourism and through teaching, group

work and exercises they gained an understanding and helped to develop ideas of what

ecotourism is, what the principles are that they must adhere to, what they should expect

from hosting visitors, what visitors will expect while they are here, why people would

want to come to Arviat, what the community could offer, what visitors might want to do

in the community, what opportunities could be presented, as well as some specific

concepts related to their areas of interest. The next step will be in the form of more

detailed job/role specific workshops.


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Artists Workshop

These workshops varied greatly in type of craft and skill level. Their primary motivation

was to be able to sell more of their products. The main value of these workshops will be

in establishing the appropriateness in approaching tourists in the selling of their art

(however it is rarely the gifted artist that approaches tourists on the street) and

determining ideas of where and how to sell their art. One of the better ideas that emerged

was the concept of art markets. Another suggestion was creating alternative reasons for

people coming to a space, such as story telling or music and selling art at those events.

Figure3.5:GraduatesOfArtistsWorkshop


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Hosts Workshop

The primary focus of this workshop was for storytellers and hosts they are to be people

who would interpret the culture, history and

geography of the community and surrounding

area. Few people who were part of this group

really had any understanding of what they were

signing up for. That said. it was one of the

more engaging groups, possessing a lot of good

ideas. They were given the same first two

workshops as the other two groups, but the third

had a more direct focus on community hosting, including: public speaking skills,

interpretation skills, providing unique experiences, and story telling. We focused on

what is interesting to visitors and why, where to find information, etc. I ran a few

exercises involving the participants presenting and interpreting various points of interest

in the community. Figure 6 shows a map of the community taped out on the ground.

Participants were asked to identify various point of interest within the community. Later

they were asked to pick one point and present what it is, why it is interesting and relate a

story that ties into the theme of that place.

Figure3.6:CommunityMapTaped

OnFloor.


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Small Business Workshop

This was a small group of people, two of whom were Peter and Mary who have 8 years

of experience in small business start up. The others were Marc and Angie, who are

starting a B&B, and Angie

Curley who wants to start a

clothing manufacturing

business. It was quite a

small group but also a

diverse group in terms of

experience. It was somewhat

difficult to deliver a

curriculum that spoke to all

of these elements. They all

benefited from the explanations of what ecotourism was and what this market consisted

of. The hosting workshop was very beneficial for those just starting a business and

perhaps a good reminder for the experienced operators. In the final workshop I reviewed

the components of a business plan. The purpose of it was more in the understanding of

the elements of running and operating a business. There was a large focus on marketing

and how the tourism industry works.

Future Workshops

There will obviously need to be a large focus on hospitality training. The eco-guide

training program that is being conducted in the fall, will be beneficial for a lot of people.

Figure3.7:GraduatesOfTheSmallBusinessWorkshop.


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This workshop will focus on some of the bread and butter of guiding people and

specifically focus on being more ecologically minded when doing so. The main theme is

how to hunt with a camera instead of a gun, which seems simple, but to a hunting focused

community there are many issues involved.

Another focus of the program will be in how to

create and develop an interpretive program a

good curriculum will be very important for this

community. Other workshops should focus in

on specific programs. E.g. a workshop to teach

a few artists how to deliver a workshop to

tourists, identify storytellers and work with them on their program, more on interpretation

taking a handful of hosts around the community and actually have them interpreting the

sites and developing the curriculum. A workshop on small business accounting would be

very beneficial to people. An entire workshop on marketing would also be extremely

valuable for the longevity of the program.

3.3.2MentoringSmallBusinesses

I also spent a considerable amount of time working with small business start-ups. These

were people in the community that already had a concept of starting a tourism business -

or in the case of one business, was already operational - and needed help in either

flushing the idea out or translating it into a business plan to gain funding. These

businesses were varying in nature as was the level of my involvement, which was

dictated by the requests from the individuals concerned.

Figure3.8:MaryOkatsiakAndJeff

Barrett


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The process varied depending on the individual, but at the route of it was business

planning. I would informally ask them various questions that a typical business plan

would consist of. This

would enable me to

identify and coach

them through areas that

they were not clear on

or that needed

improvement, such as

aspects of

programming,

logistics/operations,

risk management, sustainability, marketing, financials, etc. By talking through their

business concept using a business plan model as a guide they were able to better

understand how to run their business and what the steps were that they needed to

complete in order to begin operations. I was able to better understand their business and

how it might fit into the program. I was able to get a good sense of their cost of sales,

which enabled me to begin costing out packages to sell to operators, which we have

already had requests to do.

I was then able to take this information and develop business plans. Besides

being a valuable learning and development tool, these business plans will be used as

manuals or guides to help keep the businesses on track but also for immediate funding

applications. Applicants were requesting funds for a variety of items including ski doos,

Figure3.9:PeterMikeeunneak.Showingtraditionaltoolsto

clientsathistraditionalcamp.


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ATVs, vans, training dollars, safety / communication equipment, and renovations. The

business plans will provide a better chance for gaining access to this funding. They can

also be used later on for additional applications for funding. It is important for those

becoming involved in the ACE Initiative as well as people in the community to see

progress occurring. For small businesses to begin to see immediate benefits such as

funding will immediately boost our credibility as consultants, as well as tourism

developments credibility as a whole. There are many skeptics in the community, so to

begin to start seeing results in the community in the initial years of the program will be of

great benefit for the long-term success.

3.3.3TourismDevelopmentOfficer

Another part of my work was to mentor a tourism development officer. This person was

to essentially pick up where I left off. It is an essential role in this program as it will

ensure the sustainability of it. They would be the point of contact for operators wishing

to bring groups into the community, they would coordinate the various components and

operations within the community and be responsible for booking and organizing the

program. They would ensure that operations are running smoothly and trouble shoot

problems that may arise in operations. Appendix 3 shows a job description for this role.

In the off-season their role would switch to that of a marketing director and they would

be responsible for marketing the community and all the businesses within it.

This role is essential for the development of this program. For one it creates a key

player that consultants can focus training and mentoring on. This person in turn becomes

the glue that keeps the program running and provides a reliable point of contact for


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outbound operators wishing to bring groups into the community. A reliable and capable

tourism development officer will breed confidence in both the inbound and outbound

operators allowing for more bookings and smooth operations of them. They would be

successful in bringing in more business to the community and perpetuate and build a

program.

In meeting with the Hamlet economic development committee it was determined

that they did not want to fund this position and that it should be a privately owned and

operated business. There is a business model to support this as a viable enterprise,

however it would take time and a commitment for the long term. The Hamlet posted the

opportunity and selected a couple who were interested in taking this on. There was

funding to support them and even pay for their time and they would essentially be handed

a fully functioning business without any investment or risk. Unfortunately they could not

see the immediate benefits of the business and felt that it was more hassle than it was

worth and so opted out at the last minute. Therefore there was no one for me to mentor

upon my arrival into the community. This was a large set back.

The Hamlet has since realized the importance of this position to Tourism

development and has agreed to help fund the position. It makes far more sense to have a

community-funded coordinator at this early stage, until such time as it becomes a viable

business. At that point the Hamlet could sell the business or give it to a viable candidate.

Unfortunately it was too late for me to offer any mentoring to this individual and at this

point that person has not yet been hired nor has the Hamlet secured any funding for it.


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3.3.4AssetMapping

Another project that I engaged in was mapping and building databases of the

considerable amount of tourism assets within and around the community. This involved

a personnel database that listed various necessary people possessing skills and trades for

tourism operations. For example: graphic designers, cooks, house keeping, transportation

services, accountants, guides, boat owners, videographers, photographers, dog mushers,

historians, artists, performers, etc. It was important to determine skill level, experience,

training and training needs, contact information, rates, etc. This information will be used

for future program development and implementation.

Another database was built on historical and cultural assets. This included;

historical places / points of interest and their histories, artifacts in the community, and

stories / legends. My intent is to develop a guidebook for guides and hosts to help

develop their curriculum for their various programs that they will present for. For

example someone guiding a trip to Sentry Island will be able to access a history of the

island and some interesting stories and legends. The next step will be to do this for the

flora and fauna and the wildlife that will likely be seen at the various destinations around

the community.


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4.0S.W.O.T.(Strengths,Weaknesses,OpportunitiesandThreats)For

TourismDevelopmentInArviat________________________________________________________________________

4.1Strengths

The road to a successful tourism program in Arviat will be a long one. There is no

question there is a great amount of potential in this community. The Polar Bear

migration alone makes it a very

viable tourism destination and

this, combined with the unique

culture of the community, would

make for an exceptional

experience. There is also the

caribou migration in April, bird

migrations in May and June, the

Beluga whale migration in July,

fantastic fishing, and abundant

animal, fauna and flora life all summer long. There is enough to offer in and around the

community to run tourism programs 6 8 months of the year. The Inuit culture is unlike

any on this planet, and many people from around the world have been exposed to its

existence in some capacity. There is a large potential market of people that want to learn

and experience Inuit culture and traditions. (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-

cel?lang=eng&catno=87M0015X ) Arviat still possesses and practices many of those

traditional skills and there are many youth that are eager to learn them; tourism could be

the catalyst to encourage that.

Figure4.1:TraditionalCamp


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generally completely disrespecting the animal. They are constantly vandalizing things

including the visitor center and outdoor displays. This type of behavior will be in direct

conflict with tourism.

Like many communities in the North, Arviat relies heavily on social welfare. It

has created a system where it is difficult to motivate anyone to work. To get anyone to

show up to any form of training or education you must pay the participants. It is

extremely difficult to get people to show up on time and if there are whales or caribou in

the area forget about people showing up at all. It will be extremely difficult to shift this

type of thinking and way of life.

4.3Opportunities

Many communities have dealt with similar issues of garbage and neglect. If this

community is serious about tourism it needs to deal with this problem head on. The

community must engage in a beautification program. This would include community

wide garbage pick-ups, the Hamlet employing people to clean up larger industrial areas,

painting, and signage promoting a clean Arviat and Community pride. There needs to be

bi-laws drawn up to deal with littering, dumping, junk on properties, etc. There needs to

be better facilities for dealing with garbage such as cans that close and better perimeter

fences around the dump. Beautification needs to enter into the school system through

curriculum, promoting and encouraging pride and love of the land. As well the Hamlet

needs to figure out how to solve the gravel problem. There has been talk of using hydro

grass, which is used on the highways in the south, but something needs to be done to

eliminate the dust and lessen the communitys appearance of a giant parking lot.


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Youth are a problem in

many communities. The

problem in Arviat is complex in

that it goes all the way to the

fibers of how Inuit raise their

children. However a large part

of the problem is with complete

boredom, there is very little for

the youth to do. Tourism

represents a viable opportunity

for the youth: Tourism jobs are often seasonal which fits into the schedule of a student,

there are many jobs within the industry that youth would be good at and it can be fun. If

the community could begin to engage some of the youth, they would feel like they are

part of the process and therefore would be less likely to want to harm it and more likely

to defend it. Tourism also needs to be incorporated into the education system so that

youth have a better understanding of the opportunities within it and the importance of it

for the community.

The Inuit way of life is both a blessing and a curse. The peoples laid back, down

to earth, friendly attitude is always well received. The people just need to realize that if

they want to be successful in tourism, which they seem to want, there are certain things

that need to be done. This will take time to develop, ideally we will initially base the

program around a couple of key individuals that will lead the way and set the standards

for the rest. It will also be important to educate people on Inuit culture so that they have

Figure4.3:Grade1ClassDoingSpringCleanup.


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a better understanding of how things are done in the north. But it is definitely a balance:

you cannot have a group of tourists waiting around for a half day for their guide to show

up.

4.4Threats

The largest threat that tourism in Arviat possesses is to the Inuit culture and way of life.

Hunting will instantly come into conflict with ecotourism and will have to be resolved

before operations can commence. Always, in any remote community, there is the threat

of external influences watering down the existing culture. However, in Arviat that

culture is watered down with every new generation that is born and the outside influences

have been knocking on the door for decades. Tourism, in my opinion, will only help to

promote the Inuit culture within the community.

Another threat will be competition within the community. There is usually

resentment in native communities when one person is more successful than others and

this seems to be especially true here. There will be the copycat syndrome where people

see one type of business being successful and will copy it. Inevitably there will be

businesses that will fail and this will cause some animosity within the community. Also

there is a great deal of nepotism within this community and this will only be strengthened

by tourism. This also threatens to weaken the overall product as people in Arviat are

more likely to give business to their family regardless of competency.

There is a threat of local people partnering with external partners for the purpose

of expertise and capital. This would cause a loss of ownership and control of the

program, which would both harm the end product but also tarnish the programs


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popularity and support amongst the community. It will also create more leakage of

capital outside of the community, so that the people of Arviat will see less of the benefits

of tourism.

The concept of this initiative failing is also a great threat to the community. Too

many people have too much staked, both emotionally and financially, into this and a

failure of the program to launch or be sustainable will tarnish any future tourism program

in this community.

5.0Conclusion________________________________________________________________________

In its purest form ecotourism represents an industry that has th

Developing Capacity for Communtiy Driven Eco Tourism

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