National Indigenous Peoples Day

SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2024 4 | NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY White Shell Petroforms PHOTOS BY TAYLOR BURK The result of collaboration between the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and Travel Manitoba, ITM aims to support Indigenous businesses and their communities while promoting and growing Indigenous tourism. "The work started in 2017. There wasn't a lot of awareness about the Indigenous tourism industry here in Manitoba at the time. I came on as a product development contractor in 2019, and I realized quickly that there weren't many Indigenous experiences being promoted here in the province. So I hit the ground running and started working with communities and operators," explains ITM CEO Holly Courchene, who hails from Peguis First Nation. In 2019, there were only 81 Indigenous tourism- related experiences scattered throughout the province and merely 27 were considered market- ready to be promoted to the broader tourism industry. Through raising awareness and supporting product and experience development, 177 businesses now make up the Indigenous tourism industry in Manitoba with 75 considered market and export-ready – a growth of 178%. This is just the beginning of a promising future for Indigenous tourism in Manitoba. "We act as a liaison. We've developed relationships with the mainstream tourism industry, so they come to us when they want to build a relationship, offer an Indigenous experience in a package or otherwise work with our Indigenous operators. Then we connect Indigenous operators with the mainstream travel trade and help them understand the readiness levels of being involved in the travel trade and help create more awareness about Indigenous tourism in the province." In 2021, ITM incorporated as an association, created a board, and named Courchene CEO. Indigenous Tourism Manitoba now has approximately 70 members and held its first annual general meeting last September. To be a member of ITM, a business must be at least 51% Indigenous-owned. While ITM is not a booking agent, its website offers an interactive map to discover businesses and experiences by region. Some of the highlights of Indigenous tourism in Manitoba include the internationally renowned Churchill experiences, the National Residential School Museum in Portage la Prairie, the Bannock Point Petroforms in the Whiteshell, the Manito Ahbee festival and the Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre in Winnipeg. With operators such as Borealis Beading and Spence Custom Carving, you can learn about Indigenous history and culture while creating art. > continued on page 5 > continued from page 3 IT'S NOT AN EASY ROAD. WE LIKE TO PAINT A PRETTY PICTURE, BUT IT'S HARD WORK, AND WE'RE REALLY FIGHTING FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION. " – ITM CEO Holly Courchene " tourism

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