Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Vancouver, BC – Leveraging the support announced earlier this summer by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is continuing to provide COVID-19 development stimulus funds to Indigenous tourism businesses across Canada.

“We are pleased to announce that we have received approval from Indigenous Services Canada to release the funding for 65 more Indigenous tourism businesses. These are businesses who had originally applied in the first intake of our Stimulus Development Grant, and provided all the required documentation by September 1” says Keith Henry, President and CEO of ITAC. “We know this funding for phases 2 and 3 will support those businesses during these unprecedented times.”

ITAC received over 800 applications from Indigenous tourism businesses from across Canada during 2 intakes of the development stimulus fund. These funds are being used to help Indigenous entrepreneurs and their businesses stay afloat during the shutdown of the global tourism industry as a result of COVID-19, while continuing to support domestic visitors.

“We want to thank the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, as well as the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages for their support earlier this year when they announced $16 million in stimulus funding to help sustain the Indigenous tourism industry,” says Henry. “We continue to look for ways to help out our members who are facing critical financial shortfalls due to the dramatic slowdown of tourism demand across the country.”

ITAC hopes the stimulus founding program will help businesses to prepare for future tourism seasons by allowing them to focus on market awareness, training qualified staff and designing sustainable business growth strategies.

To view the initial successful applicants in Phase 1, click here.

To view phase 2 and 3 successful applicants, click here.

For more information on the ITAC’s COVID-19 Development Stimulus Fund, click here.

To view all of ITAC’s communications around COVID-19 and the resources available, click here.

About the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada

ITAC is the lead organization tasked with growing the Indigenous tourism industry across the country.  Inspired by a vision for a thriving Indigenous tourism economy sharing authentic, memorable and enriching experiences, ITAC develops relationships with other groups and regions with similar mandates. By uniting the Indigenous tourism industry in Canada, ITAC works to enable collective support, product development, promotion and marketing of authentic Indigenous cultural tourism businesses in a respectful protocol.  Prior to 2020, Indigenous tourism was outpacing Canadian tourism activity overall, and international demand for Indigenous experiences was at an all-time high. ITAC also works in partnership with Destination Canada to showcase Indigenous tourism across Canada to Canadian and international travellers.

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Media Contacts
Nicole Amiel, Beattie Tartan
416.436.5185, 514.983.3959 (cell)
nicole.amiel@beattiegroup.com

Keith Henry, CEO
Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada
778-388-5013
Keith@IndigenousTourism.ca

French media requests
Sébastien Desnoyers-Picard, Chief Marketing Officer
Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada
418-655-0210
Sebastien@IndigenousTourism.ca