I’ve had this long time discussion with myself about whether or not I should be an actual tour operator in Yellowknife.
Truth be told, I don’t especially want to be one, or want to do it long term.
My goals and ambitions for Yellowknife Tourism go beyond those of just operating one-off tours on a daily or nightly basis for a few visitors at a time.
My goals and ambitions are to contribute to the growth and development of tourism and placemaking in Yellowknife.
There are many thoughts that I have about those two things above, and I love talking to other people about it because everyone has a different perspective. It is my view that if we can continue to have those conversations a better roadmap will emerge with key indicators of what we as a community need to do to do to help foster Yellowknife as a high-quality destination.
If anyone is interested in talking about tourism or placemaking in Yellowknife, I’m all ears. I’ll even buy the coffee.
Why then have I become a licensed tour operator offering small group Community Tours during the day and Aurora Tours during the night?
Because it is a quick way to leverage my knowledge and passion of this place, learn first hand about what visitors are expecting, and support me financially while figuring out how to move forward.
Hammering away at developing Yellowknife as a tourism destination is a long-term goal of mine. A shorter term goal might be to shift from being a tour operator to being a promoter of current and new tour operators. Utilize my platforms as a digital marketing tool for many of the local tour operators who don’t have the time to focus on their own marketing.
It is also my hope that I continue to publish more of these thoughts and ideas with the goal of connecting with more like-minded community members.