If you ignored the face masks for a moment, you could stroll through any of the larger communities in the North and almost imagine that the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t really happened. People would give you a wider berth as you passed on the sidewalk, and you might notice a stronger sense of “buy local” among the shoppers in the stores you visit. But people would be out and about. The streets would be busy, much as they were before the pandemic. Almost.
Indeed, a superficial scan of the data suggests that the territories are coming through one of their most challenging years in decades beaten, but not broken. Nunavut and the Yukon both recorded positive, albeit weak, GDP growth in 2020 1.8 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively, according to Conference Board of Canada projections but they were the only two jurisdictions in Canada to do so. The NWT suffered more, seeing economic growth contract 7.6 per cent according to the conference board. But the loss is tempered by expectation
The Yukon government is under pressure from the tourism industry to clarify what the upcoming season holds as operators struggle to keep their businesses open.
A letter to Jeanie McLean, the minister of Tourism and Culture, says “the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon (TIA Yukon) is pressing for an ‘Active and Alert State of Readiness’ to begin a soft opening at the earliest opportunity.
“We want our leaders to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it currently is,” association chair Neil Hartling writes.
In the letter, he pointedly asks McLean if the government is favouring a status quo that could see restrictions in place for years to come, or if it believes there’s a chance of tourism operators being able to do some business in 2021.
Yukon tourism businesses look ahead with hope and uncertainty
2020 was a terrible year for the tourism industry and in Yukon, things are not necessarily expected to turn around quickly even with a vaccine now in hand.
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Posted: Dec 14, 2020 5:38 PM CT | Last Updated: December 14, 2020
A guided expedition makes its way down the Big Salmon River in 2017. The territory s tourism sector had seen some record-breaking growth in recent years but has precipitously declined due to COVID-19. (Philippe Morin/CBC)