Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Vancouver, BC – The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is pleased to welcome 1,035 members to its association as of April 15, 2023.
Once again, ITAC maintains a strong foundation and strong provincial partners to continue to showcase Canada as a premier Indigenous tourism destination while strengthening its membership base. Moreover, a resilient Indigenous tourism industry provides opportunities for reconciliation by educating Canadians, provincial, territorial and federal governments and the tourism industry, both nationally and globally, on the many benefits of a thriving Indigenous tourism industry.
The association presents a unified Indigenous tourism industry voice to visitors, organizations, government departments and industry leaders to support the growth of Indigenous tourism in Canada. Any person or organization interested in advancing Indigenous tourism in Canada may apply to become an ITAC member. The membership application deadline to receive Voting Member status was April 15, 2023. However, the application process remains open year-round and any person or business can still apply to receive membership benefits at any time.
The association will continue to lead the industry and the recovery of the Indigenous tourism sector to pre-pandemic levels as outlined in its 2023-24 Action Plan, ensuring that its members have the training and resources they need to rebuild and establish their businesses, products and programs as premier visitor destinations.
2022 was a year of great growth and continued rebuilding towards the association’s ultimate goal of returning Indigenous tourism to the peaks of GDP and employment seen in 2019. The association is actively working everyday towards $1.9 billion of direct GDP contributions, 1,900 Indigenous tourism businesses and more than 39,000 Indigenous tourism employees by 2025.
ITAC’s objective is to engage with members with a focus on domestic and international travel while continuing to build capacity amongst the association’s membership and providing targeted business support where required.
Beyond recovery, ITAC has a 2030 Vision of making Canada become the global leader in Indigenous tourism with continued calls for investments to support members, provincial and territorial Indigenous tourism organizations and ITAC.
Watch this video to learn more.
Download ITAC’s pledge and join #IndigenousTourismTeamCanada to support Canada in becoming the global leader in Indigenous tourism by 2030. Consider signing and sharing it on your social media using #IndigenousTourismTeamCanada.