b'INDIGENOUS TOURISMThat necessary infrastructure can include a wide variety of needs such as restaurants, hotels, wastewater and sewage systems, health services and policing. ITAC tries to help guide commu-nity leaders in determining what is needed when developing Indigenous tourism destinations. While government support would obviously be appreciated, empowering Indigenous businesses to manage their basic business needs, such as access to capital and market readiness, should be top priorities. ITAC is in the process of launching new programs to assist with raising access to needed funds. It recently launched the Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund (ITDF), a volunteer fund to attract non-Indigenous businesses to partner with Indigenous tourism companies to help grow the industry. The ITDF is administered by ITAC with the purpose of investing in infrastructure, human resources and development, and marketing projects that will benefit communities across the country. There are 125,000 businesses in this country that are in tourism. Were asking them to add on a 25-cent-per-trans-action fee, which is very minimal to customers, Henry says. Wikwemikong Tourism in Ontario offers a range of cultural experiencesfrom culinaryThis fee would help level the playing field for Indigenous adventures to historical walks tourism businesses in Canada as much of the tourism indus-trys marketing happens through destination marketing orga-nizations and other non-Indigenous bodies funded in a similar While the potential for growth is an exciting prospect, there ismanner, Henry explains. In ITACs 2024 Domestic Tourism concern that the industry will not be able to attract the neces- Research survey, where 1,006 Canadians were asked if they sary investments it needs to fully leverage the increasingwould support the initiative, 69 per cent of Canadian travel-demand for Indigenous tourism destinations. ITAC created anlers answered in the affirmative, stating they supported the economic model with the Conference Board of Canada aboutITDF. Were just trying to level the playing field where we 18 months ago. The results showed that it would take aboutcan attract those kinds of programs to invest in Indigenous $2.6 billion in various investments to create those 800 newtourism, Henry says.businesses. The benefits these investments would generate for Indigenous communities would be significant. That moneyINDIGENOUS EXPERIENCESwould be paid back very quickly because the visitor marketAccording to ITAC, the most popular experience that interna-and the demand is so high, Henry explains. tional tourists are looking for is authentic Indigenous cuisine. While this presents an opportunity for many communities, it Entrepreneurs are one of the keys to successfully buildingalso requires significant investments in infrastructure. Another up the industry. Of the 2,000 current businesses involved inexperience highly sought after by tourists is on-the-land Indigenous tourism, Henry estimates that about 70 per cent areoutings where people can learn how Indigenous cultures lived run by entrepreneurs. Theyre in Mtis settlements or in Inuit communities. Theyre urban. Theyre rural. Theyre Northern. And theyre some of our most successful businesses, Henry says. Weve got so many entrepreneurs in the country that are developing and building. So part of our hope is that we can attract investment that can really build those businesses up even more.ITAC believes there is a great opportunity to work with entre-preneurs to make them more market- and export-ready and to help and encourage them to obtain the infrastructure invest-ment they need to compete on the world stage.PLANNING FOR GROWTHNot unlike municipalities, Indigenous communities across the country have community plans and Henry says these plans need to take into account potential growth in tourism to accommodate additional visitors. If youre going to have an extra 2,000 people come to your community, do you haveA canoeing trip organized by North Star Adventures, an Indigenous-owned company the infrastructure? Henry points out. based out of Yellowknife78A CCIB PUBLICATIONFall 2024'