Taking Flight

Posted on 19. Mar, 2008 by Kerry Banks in Travel Blog

On March 5, 2008, the halls at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre reverberated with the sound of First Nations’ singing and drumming as the venue hosted the fifth Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia (ATBC) awards gala. The musical entertainment, which spanned a variety of styles ranging from evocative traditional dance to a blazing interlude of Metis bluegrass, helped enliven the award presentations and acceptance speeches. The theme for this year’s event was “Taking Flight,” a fitting phrase for a fledgling industry that has just begun to spread its wings.

The awards recognize excellence and innovation among individuals, businesses and organizations at the forefront of the province’s aboriginal tourism industry. As Brenda Baptiste, the chair of ATBC, noted in her welcoming address: “Aboriginal tourism is founded on a spirit of collaboration, a drive to create economic opportunity, an urgency to support cultural stewardship, and an excitement to strengthen a sustainable tourism industry in the international marketplace for the benefit of all British Columbians. This event is a tribute to those who are leading the way.”

Awards were presented in nine categories. You can check out the winners at ATBC’s website: www.atbc.bc.ca

Surveys indicate that aboriginal tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism market worldwide. B.C. leads the way in Canada, with more than 200 aboriginal tourism businesses operating in the province. These ventures currently generate about $35 million a year in revenues, but this total has been forecast to increase to $50 million by 2012.

According to a study commissioned by ATBC, a third of visitors to the province indicated that they had visited aboriginal sites, attractions and events on previous trips to B.C. And 63 percent of these tourists indicated that they planned to return to B.C. for aboriginal tourism within the next three years.

Travellers taking part in aboriginal tourism in B.C. tend to be:
Well-educated, upper middle-income wage earners, female baby boomers.
Visiting from primarily North American and European destinations.
Including aboriginal tourism in their B.C. travels for the first time (65%).
Taking part in aboriginal tourism in places beyond B.C. (64%).
Spending more money per trip than other tourists.

Compared to other B.C. travellers these aboriginal tourists are more apt to:
Spend more trip days in B.C. (average of 13 days).
Include aboriginal experiences on more of those trip days (average of 3 days).
Visit more than one aboriginal location on B.C. trip (average of 2.2 sites).
Visit aboriginal interpretive centres (24%), attractions (22%) and museums (21%).
Travel in larger parties (average of 3.6 persons).

All in all, it’s a highly desirable demographic.

Sticking with the subject of aboriginal tourism and awards, I just learned that I won second prize in The Northern Lights Awards for an article that I wrote about aboriginal tourism iniatives in B.C.. The piece, entitled “Chief Destinations,” appeared in the summer 2007 issue of Westworld magazine. Westworld also captured first prize in another Northern Lights’ category for Daniel Wood’s story, “North of Everything.”

This competition, which is judged by Carleton University, is open to magazines, newspapers, independent writers and photographers and Internet reporters in North America who have generated tourism-oriented coverage on Canadian destinations in 2007 in either French or English. You can visit the Northern Lights site at www.canadamediamarket.org/ctc/

In addition to giving me a cheque for $400, the event’s organizers will also fly me to Los Angeles to attend the Canada Media Marketplace convention and the Northern Lights Awards luncheon, held from April 7-9, 2008, at the Beverly Hilton. This landmark hotel, which was built in 1955 by Conrad Hilton, the former husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, bills itself as where “the glamour of the past merges with the technology of the 21st century.” Talk-show host and real-estate mogul Merv Griffin owned the place from 1987 to 2003, and according to the hotel’s website, a galaxy of Hollywood stars and every U.S. president since JFK has stayed here. Reputed to have the largest swimming pool in Beverly Hills, the hotel hosts 175 red-carpet extravaganzas each year, including the prestigious Golden Globe Awards in January. I suspect that next month’s trip to Beverly Hills may turn out to be a bit of a bizarre adventure. It certainly sounds like prime fodder for this blog. Stay tuned.