b'E-TOURISMTravellers are looking for more immersive Indigenous experiences that they can purchase on digital platforms offering one-click purchasable options. Photos courtesy of Tourism Wendake development and marketing throughmany ITAC members, saw the system- purchase choices instantly online. This programs and strategic assistance.atic loss of a lot of staff and sales part- is what they are used to and what they ners in their supply chains, says Henry. want from smaller tourism companies Since the summer of 2022, interna- as well. For a lot of our businesses, pre-tional travellers have once again beenThis pattern repeated itself across manypandemic you had to phone them to returning to Canada to experience nature,agencies. For ITAC members, it wasntmake inquiries. But most people [today] cultural diversity, and more. Canadianjust a matter of optimizing their onlinedont want to go through that process, tourism was a very competitive spacepresence with engaging images andsays Henry. We have to make it simple pre-pandemic, and Henry anticipatesvideo. They had to figure out how tofor people to purchase on the spot. that the competition will only increaseattract customers and handle salesAnd the best way to do that is having as international travel picks up.directly without the support of foreigndigital platforms where everything is tourism partners.one-click purchasable.How do Canadian, Indigenous-owned tourism businesses stay competitive inThis presented a host of challenges. ABUILDING DIGITAL CAPACITYthis new landscape? The key is e-tourism,basic website and social media [page]To build e-tourism capacity among which leverages digital strategies in aprobably wont be successful; you needIndigenous businesses, ITAC hosts variety of creative ways to attract, engagea tactical campaign and the ability to sellDigital Incubator Workshops several and ultimately sell travel experiences toexperiences online, says Henry. A lottimes a year with about 20 participating people across the globe.of our businesses were quite basic inbusinesses per session. These online that area. Its been a massive learningclasses help members understand the Pre-pandemic,Indigenoustourism[curve] for us. consumer perspective and teach them providers usually worked closely withhow to leverage digital infrastructure for travel agents and wholesale tour oper- Large, non-Indigenous competitorsbusiness growth.ators in other countries to sell theirhad sophisticated digital platforms pre-travel experiences. These channelspandemic, but Indigenous tourism isITAC also has business programs that largely disappeared when travel-restric- relatively new. Significant growth hashelp members identify key operational tions were introduced, and that is aonly really taken off in the last 10 years,gaps and offers investment support to key reason why digital engagement islargely driven by excitement and politicshelp them fill the gaps in the digital more important than ever. We saw aaround Indigenous culture in Canada.space. Creating the needed digital complete collapse of these sales chan- But, says Henry, emotion and poli- infrastructure takes time, money and nels, says Henry. There was a traditionaltics arent enough. We need feasible,resources. We have an existing program sales path, and you didnt have to worrysustainable businesses that understandthat provides up to $10,000 for this fiscal about direct digital sales. Pre-pandemic,how to compete on all of these platforms.year. Next year, we intend to expand that a lot of our businesses relied heavily onWhether from Vancouver or Berlin, if visi- program to provide $20,000 for busi-those sales partners in other countries totors want to go to Canada, you must benesses to build out their digital appa-drive purchasing.able to sell through multiple channelsratus, says Henry.to make it easy for consumers to make Theimpactwasfeltimmediately.decisions quickly. ITAC also encourages and supports Canadian-basedwholesaletravelmember efforts to collaborate with agency Jonview, which sells largely toTourism platforms like Trip Advisor meantravel packagesa win-win for all the European market and works withthat customers these days make travelinvolved. Were bringing more of our Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT 65'