Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to highlight the challenges facing the tourism industry in the Deh Cho riding. I believe that the challenges facing tourism in our riding are shared in large part by the tourism industry in all of the western Arctic.
Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in Canada, besides Nunavut, that does not have either a separate Ministry dedicated to tourism or a major tourism organization that reports directly to a Minister. Mr. Speaker, visitation rates for tourists visiting the NWT are growing at a far lesser rate than these other jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, the reorganization of the government-sponsored regional tourism marketing agencies in the mid-1990's into one central sector-oriented agency, NWT Arctic Tourism, has not proven itself to be a success. NWT Arctic Tourism, by focussing on sector-based tourism marketing, has lost a certain degree of regional focus. Mr. Speaker, there is certainly no sense of ownership within our region to NWT Arctic Tourism.
Indeed there is an increasing sentiment that we should return to the regionally focused tourism marketing agencies we used to have. It is essential that this government start to provide meaningful resources to regional tourism agencies, thereby allowing groups such as Big River Tourism Association to resume the valuable work they used to do.
Resumption of funding to the regional tourism agencies does not mean that this government needs to scrap NWT Arctic Tourism. I believe that the efforts of the regional tourism agencies could be complementary in nature, leaving NWT Arctic Tourism to focus on pan-territorial marketing while the regional organizations pursue regional initiatives.
Mr. Speaker, tourism is our second largest industry. Yet, Mr. Speaker, the NWT spends $1.2 million on marketing initiatives, while other territories spend many times that amount. For example, the Yukon spends $2.5 million.
Tourism provides many spin-off jobs in the service sector and has the potential to create valuable highly paid careers for our youth on a year-round basis. It is critical that this government nurtures tourism in our communities and devotes meaningful resources to its development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause