Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Vancouver, BC Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) national board of directors met this past week in Vancouver. This meeting addressed a number of national priorities including completion of the new national Aboriginal tourism strategy which will define our strategy to increase Aboriginal tourism jobs, revenues, and minimize industry barriers from 2016 – 2021.
ITAC Chair/CEO Mr. Keith Henry stated, “The national board held a productive meeting and ITAC has reached agreement on the new national strategy. We are immediately working to complete final edits to release in March. ITAC is confident that the national Aboriginal tourism strategy will coordinate growth for the industry by an estimated $1.3 billion by 2021 in increased revenues while creating approximately 8000 new jobs. The ITAC strategy will focus on 4 main pillars to address identified challenges confronting Aboriginal tourism growth based on our recent national Aboriginal tourism research released in 2015.”
ITAC Chair/CEO Mr. Keith Henry added, “The ITAC national board of directors coordinated effort will bring positive results for our industry. The signing of the agreement with Destination Canada this past December 2015 is already demonstrating real results for Aboriginal tourism businesses and this relationship is critical for our marketing and organizational development. In fact, the ITAC meeting was held at the Destination Canada office where their team, as part of our meeting, presented on marketing tactics achieved and planned for 2016. Having Destination Canada supporting, guiding, and enhancing our marketing and working together is paramount to our new national strategy. I cannot thank their CEO David Goldstein, Chief Marketing Officer Jon Mamela, and Executive Director of Industry Partnerships Maureen Riley enough for our significant work to date.”
ITAC Chair Henry concluded; “ITAC is poised to increase Aboriginal tourism significantly throughout Canada. Domestic and international visitors want authentic Aboriginal tourism and by working together we believe partners who share our vision will ensure tourism success for the entire industry. The new strategy will call for increased marketing tactics, increasing support for new Aboriginal tourism business development, and basing all efforts by coordination of the strategy with all Provinces and Territories critical to success. The future is exciting and our Aboriginal tourism leaders are ready to move our industry forward.”
For more information about the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada go to www.IndigenousTourism.ca.
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About the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada:
Originally formed as the Aboriginal Tourism Marketing Circle, in 2015 the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) was formally established as a national non-profit Aboriginal tourism industry organization. Today ITAC includes representation from 15 Aboriginal tourism industry representatives and organizations. Through a unified Aboriginal tourism industry voice, ITAC focuses on creating partnerships between associations, organizations, government departments and industry leaders from across Canada to support the growth of Aboriginal tourism in Canada.
Media contact:
Keith Henry Chair/CEO
Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada
1-604-639-4408
k.henry@aboriginalcanada.ca