NORTHWEST TERRITORIES TOURISM FACT SHEET OVERVIEW such as moose stew, fresh whitefish, • Free ferries connect roads at river and bannock. crossings during the months that Welcome to the Northwest Territories, a The Mackenzie River is the the rivers are free of ice – from May longest river system in land as vast as it is diverse and beautiful. Transportation to November. In winter, ferries are From scenic waterfalls to alluring replaced by ice roads. Canada at 4,241 km in length. mountains, the Northwest Territories has The NWT has a network of unique and awe-inspiring landscapes. transportation options to enable visitors This territory has much to offer to explore the territory: Main Purpose of Travel festivals like the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik. including a front row seat to the greatest • Three highways link the NWT to the lightshow on Earth: the Aurora Borealis. Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta: Aboriginal Tourism • An Aboriginal Tourism Champions the Dempster Highway, Liard Trail and • Traditional ways remain strong in the Advisory Council has been formed NWT Quick Facts Mackenzie Highway. North amongst all Aboriginal groups to advance and develop Aboriginal Tourism. • Capital city: Yellowknife • Four major airline carriers offer daily willing to share their culture, stories and ways of life. • Territorial Population: 42,810 jet service from Edmonton, Alberta Aurora Borealis to Yellowknife, NWT: Air Canada, • Handmade traditional arts and crafts, • Total Area: 1,170,000 square km Canadian North, First Air and WestJet. such as moccasins, mukluks, moose • The NWT is the Aurora Capital of the World – the ideal place to view the • Official Languages: 11 official • From Yellowknife, connect with hair tuftings, carvings and beadwork, spectacular northern lights. languages, 9 of which are Aboriginal regional or charter airlines to are available to purchase throughout languages continue to any of the communities. the territory. • Visitors can often see the Aurora from late August until mid-April in the NWT. • Number of Communities: 33 • The Deh Cho Bridge spans the • There are opportunities to The lights are most dazzling from • Number of Territorial Parks: 33 Mackenzie River and offers year experience the stories and traditions December to March when nights are round access to road travellers. of the Aboriginal peoples, including • Number of National Parks: 5 longest and the sky is darkest. • Largest Lake: Great Bear Lake • The NWT is located directly below the • Tourism contributes approximately Aurora oval – the enormous band of $100 million annually into the NWT energy that circles the North Magnetic economy Pole. Since the most active rings of activity happen north of the 60th • The Government of the Northwest parallel and beyond the Arctic Circle, Territories’ (GNWT) Department of the clear winter nights offer a 90 to Industry, Tourism and Investment 100% chance of seeing the Aurora. (ITI) provides ongoing support for Northwest Territories Tourism • The NWT is home to world-class (NWTT), the destination marketing Aurora tour operators and viewing organization. facilities. Visitors who come to view the lights often add on other Facilities and Services excursions like dogsledding, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. Over 80 hotels, motels and bed and breakfast type accommodations are located throughout the NWT. There are plenty of restaurants across the territory providing delicious northern specialties J. F. BERGERON / ENVIRO FOTO F. J.
2 Industry, Tourism and Investment - Tourism Industry, Tourism and Investment - Tourism 3 • • Spectacular fishing lodges are • A menu of adventure experiences National Geographic scattered throughout the NWT. are offered in five national parks: Nahanni, Nááts’ihch’oh, Aulavik, Traveler has identified • Hunting outfitters offer big game Tuktut Nogait and Wood Buffalo. Nahanni National Park packages for Dall’s sheep, mountain as one of the must-see goats, moose, bears and wolves. • From 2011/12 to 2012/13 outdoor adventure travel grew by 33%. places in 2014. • Free roaming game outnumbers the human population in the NWT. Business Travel Hunting and Fishing Touring • Business travel accounts for almost half of tourism spending in the NWT • Anglers are attracted to the NWT • The majority of the general touring STEPHANIE YULLI and offers visitors a chance to have a by the prospect of catching Arctic visitors come from southern Canada, uniquely northern experience. grayling, lake trout, Northern pike, the United States, Germany and the Waterfalls Route that includes lake whitefish, pickerel, char and Switzerland. stops at Alexandra, Lady Evelyn, and • More and more business travellers other fish species. are participating in guided tourism • From 2011/12 to 2012/13 general Sambaa Deh Falls, amongst others. activities during their business trip. • Hundreds of lakes and rivers offer touring travel grew by 13 percent. The Wood Buffalo route is another some of the world’s most spectacular beautiful roadway that takes drivers • Canadian business travellers account • In 2012/13 over 15,000 people toured sport fishing and it’s not unusual for to Wood Buffalo National Park, a for the vast majority of the NWT’s the NWT by road. anglers to pull trophy size lake trout UNESCO World Heritage Site. business travel market. and Northern pike from NWT waters. • NWT highways allow visitors to • The NWT Road and Campground • The largest number of business experience breathtaking landscapes • Anglers can fish all night long under Guide provides information on travellers work in mining and and wildlife along the route. the midnight sun in the summer or the attractions, campgrounds and government. ice-fish in winter. • Visitors can enjoy a number of driving communities along eight different routes. Some popular routes include scenic routes. • From 2011/12 to 2012/13 general touring travel grew by 13%.
Outdoor Adventure • Outdoor Adventure describes visitors who travel for the main purpose of participating in outdoor activities, such as hiking, canoeing, kayaking, rafting and dogsledding. • The NWT offers diverse natural geography, and an extensive system of world-class parks and campgrounds. • Tour operators offer guided trips by boat, canoe, snowmobile and dogsled. TERRY PARKER TERRY HANS PFAFF / NWT TOURISM / NWT HANS PFAFF
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Great Slave Lake is the Northwest Territories Visitor Statistics deepest lake in North America! At 614 metres, Main Purpose of Travel 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 it is the sixth deepest lake Aurora Viewing 5,500 5,400 6,800 7,400 15,700 in the world! Fishing 7,300 6,400 5,000 4,700 4,000 General Touring 14,800 14,500 12,900 13,400 15,200 Snapshot of tourists Hunting 1 940 760 440 480 500* to the NWT Outdoor Adventure 2,100 1,900 1,900 2,300 3,100*
• The majority of Aurora travellers NWTT Visiting Friends 9,300 12,900 13,400 11,800 13,800 & Relatives are from Japan, followed by visitors • The majority of sport hunters come from southern Canada, the United from across the United States and Total Leisure Visitors 39,800 41,800 40,400 40,100 52,300* States, South Korea, China, the United southern Canada. Business Travel 33,600 26,200 24,800 24,300 24,100 Kingdom and Australia. • Anglers purchasing guided fishing Total Visitors 73,400 68,000 65,200 64,400 76,400* • Many people travel to the NWT to trips are typically from the United visit friends and relatives. Almost 90% States, Alberta, Ontario and 1 The number of hunters is rounded to the nearest ten because the totals are less than 1,000. of these visitors are from Canada, and British Columbia. The majority of * Indicates revisions the majority travel in the summer independent anglers come from months. From 2011/12 to 2012/13, Alberta and British Columbia. these numbers increased by 17%. Origin of Visitors 1% to the NWT 3% 2%
Europe
Asia-Pacific
North America 76%
Other TANIA SPENCER TANIA
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COVER PHOTO: (MAIN) J. F. BERGERON / ENVIRO FOTO, For general information please contact: (BOTTOM LEFT) ENVIRO FOTO, (BOTTOM MIDDLE) RHONDA KENNEDY, Tourism and Parks (BOTTOM RIGHT) HANS PFAFF / NWT TOURISM P.O. Box 1320; 8th Floor Scotia Centre Yellowknife, Northwest Territories X1A 2L9 Telephone: 867.873.7903 For tourism information: www.spectacularnwt.com www.fb.com/spectacularnwt www.twitter.com/spectacularnwt