Keith Henry, chair & CEO of Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada talks about the focused efforts to put together a national strategy to highlight the country’s 1,527 aboriginal tourism businesses. By Sudipta Dev
Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada (ATAC) is an indigenous and cultural tourism organisation that has been focused on rebuilding the segment, which now is an integral part of tourism in the country. “We felt that there was a significant gap in how we are marketing and telling our stories. In part we also felt that the tourism industry did not have the vision and understanding of how to market and develop our businesses within the aboriginal communities in Canada,” says Keith Henry, chair & CEO, ATAC.
Aboriginal tourism is not new in Canada, but according to Henry, the past initiatives have not been that effective so over the last six years, he along with other key aboriginal tourism leaders in the country, have worked towards redevelopment of ATAC. Though incorporated as a national non-profit body in 2015, the aboriginal tourism national movement has been building for many years in the country. The association is a one-window approach to work with the industry in Canada.
There are 1,527 aboriginal tourism businesses in Canada, and the challenge, believes Henry, is that there are very few that are export or market ready. While the association is guiding those businesses to meet the requirements of the industry, an important part of the initiatives has to do with cultural revitalisation and sustainability. He states, “We are now bringing everyone together and growing the industry. We have been holding forums and discussions across the country for sometime. We also work with aboriginal businesses to share with them the vision and have put together a five-year plan to bring everyone together and grow the industry. It is a national strategy.” Regarding integration with mainline tourism, he points out that one of the key partners is Destination Canada (DC). An agreement has been signed for marketing. “We will work with DC in their key markets,” informs Henry.
On development side, ATAC is making efforts to create national standards of authenticity and market readiness – implementing at the community level with the entrepreneurs and leadership. “On the other side, we have to lift up the businesses that are market ready,” says Henry.
The five year plan covers development, including training and education because very few of the 1,527 aboriginal tourism businesses understand marketing or working with the travel trade. “We have to do a lot of capacity building. In other countries, in indigenous and aboriginal communities also, I have seen the same capacity learning challenge. The other aspects of the plan are marketing with Destination Canada and provincial governments, leadership, advocacy and partnerships,” adds Henry.
ATAC aims to make Canada a great indigenous tourism destination. “We are an ancient culture in this country, though people do not think of Canada that way. For instance, when we think of India, we think of ancient culture and practices, we also have that but have not told people about it. Our aboriginal people have been here for thousands of years,” he asserts, acknowledging that indigenous tourism in Canada is an international success story, ranging from F&B to artisanal experiences. “We have got a lot of best practices,” he affirms.