Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We believe expo is the ideal venue to create and to further work on a lot of the exposure that the aurora industry has gained in Japan. Really, we clearly have a foothold now in terms of awareness and it's important for us to build on that and it's hard to imagine a more appropriate or adequate venue than this expo. So with that in mind, as we put together this program, we are very cognizant of that.
I think the future of this industry is broader than just Yellowknife. We are starting to see some activity in Fort Smith and in Hay River as well. I know that some of the Yellowknife operators are also looking at tours outside of Yellowknife because people are looking for a different experience, not everybody is looking for that urban experience. Many people are looking to go off the beaten path. I think we can give them that opportunity here and it's just really a matter of supporting our communities to develop the infrastructure that has started to be created here in Yellowknife.
So we think this expo is going to drive increased opportunities for product development in a number of communities. The hard part really is driving people to the Northwest Territories. I think we are really seeing a rebound if the passenger numbers that we just anecdotally see when we go to the airport...I was there yesterday evening at 9:20 and you couldn't move in the terminal building in Yellowknife with the number of Japanese passengers. The task now is to ensure that that filters out of the main airport and main centre into other communities in the North. That's our challenge. We will have to be focussed on that as we support product development in other communities.
I think this expo is a wonderful opportunity to drive increased traffic to the North, and we have to get them here first for this to be a reality. Thank you.