Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a very strong and capable team at Northwest Territories Tourism. We have dedicated staff at the regional level through ITI who provide support to tourism operators and the licensing aspect. We have seen numbers continue to increase, and the Member is correct; when we came into office almost four years ago, we increased the marketing budget for tourism, and I believe that those efforts back then are now starting to pay dividends with the increased number of visitors from Asia, from the United States and domestically from here in Canada.
I know t
he Member spoke during his Member’s
statement about increased visitation in the Inuvik region. We’re happy to see that. We have to continue to try to get funding out to the regions, and we have earmarked funding for the regions across the territory. We have the Northwest Territories Tourism annual general meeting coming up in November, and I think we’re looking at this very positively, and our efforts also in Asia are paying tremendous dividends. If you look around here in Yellowknife, it’s very evident the amount of tourists that you see on
airplanes, at the airport, on the streets and in hotels. We’re seeing a new hotel being constructed across the street from the Legislature, a couple of new restaurants, and expansion to the Explorer Hotel. All the signs are there that that investment four years ago is paying huge dividends for us here.