The 2016 Be a Tourist In Your Own Town campaign wrapped up Friday with a draw for overall prizes.

The real winners however, were residents who participated in the campaign to see and experience their city through the eyes of tourists.  Many said they did things they never would have thought of doing and visited places they didn’t know existed. The 42 participating businesses and organizations said they enjoyed a lot of foot traffic and  increased sales. 

The initiative is sponsored, in part, by the Department of Industry Tourism and Investment’s (ITI) North Slave Regional Office to stimulate local interest, awareness and foot traffic for the tourism sector in the capital.

This year’s campaign partners also included the City of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT) Tourism, and the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.

With over 3,200 ballot entries packed inside, the draw drum was so full it was hard to turn.  Here are this year’s winners:   

Grand Prize Winner - Tariq St. Croix – A three night, four day trip for two to Blachford Lake Lodge

2nd Prize Winner– Chloe Fiet – A luxury camping package to Prelude Lake

3rd Prize Winner– Katie Johnson – A Two hour Ry-Lo Express Hovercraft Tour

4th Prize Winner -  Kate Covello  – A gift Basket from Great Slave Lake Gifts

5th Prize Winner -  Margaret Guthrie – A maple product Basket from Association Franco-Culturelle de Yellowknife

The NWT tourism and service sector is built on its family of small business owners and operators.  Through the Department of ITI, the Government of the Northwest Territories is working to create a competitive business environment in which entrepreneurs have the incentive, confidence and tools to invest, take risks and prosper.