Overview
This program provided funding to qualified organizations to hire and maintain Community Tourism Coordinators are a critical component for enabling the development of market and export ready tourism products and packages for Northwest Territories (NWT) communities. These non-GNWT positions act as one-stop shops in NWT communities with an interest in tourism for developing products, creating packages out of these products, aligning these packages with markets and enabling these products/packages to be sold to either tourism wholesalers or retailers to help support the increase of total tourist visitation and spending in NWT communities.
Through this initiative, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) is furthering its mandate of support for tourism development, by enabling capacity-challenged communities to develop sustainable marketable tourism products and packages.
Funding Available
Up to $50,000 a year over a span of two years available towards the position.
Equity requirement of 30%.
Deadline
Call for applications normally issued every two years in January with a deadline in February. The next intake will occur between January and February 2025.
Eligibility
Qualifying organizations in NWT communities are encouraged to apply, such as:
- Municipal councils
- Band councils
- Community governments
- Land claim organizations
- Community economic development and investment corporations
- Chambers of Commerce
- Privately-owned, for-profit organizations are not eligible.
Proposals must demonstrate:
- Clearly expressed community desire for tourism development through a community tourism strategic plan or economic development plan.
- Clearly expressed financial support and commitment from an organization capable of providing operational support to the position.
- Demonstrated capacity to operationalize the position.
- Availability of recognizable tourist attractions or potential tourist attractions and experiences within the community.
- The potential for packaging tourist attractions, products and experiences within the community or in close proximity to the community.
- Availability of accommodation infrastructure or clearly expressed financial commitment to developing accommodation infrastructure in the community.
- Ease and affordability of access to the community.
- Availability of food services or clearly expressed desire to develop food services in the community.
- The number of licensed tourism operators operating within the community or within the vicinity of the community.
- The availability of tourism related services within the community or in close proximity to the community.
- Availability of events/festivals and a strong commitment towards leveraging the opportunities presented by events and festivals.
- Availability of trained labour pool for the tourism services or a clearly expressed willingness and commitment to work with GNWT and other relevant stakeholders to enhance the service skills sets of community residents interested in tourism employment.
- Community health and wellness.
- Availability of tourism champions within the community.
- Competing industries for the tourism labour pool in the community.
How to apply
Qualifying organizations need to show their support and commitment to developing tourism in their community. An application will need a detailed proposal, including among other topics:
- A community tourism plan or economic development plan
- A description of the qualifying organization
- Information about community readiness for tourism
- The proposed budget for the position
Upon receipt of the application, the Regional TDO will make a recommendation to their ITI Regional Superintendent, who will then forward the application to the selection committee for the Program.
A proposal sample and additional details for preparing a proposal can be found below.
