November 6, 1998

Provincial government money boosts Nunavik tourism

Nunavik's new tourism association is setting up shop with money provided by Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard last year.

JANE GEORGE
Nunatsiaq News

KUUJJUAQ — Nunavik's tourism association plans to officially open its new home next week.

Located in the Makivik Corporation's former premises, right in the center of Kuujjuaq, the Nunavik Tourism Association has a choice site for its offices, which also include a resource room for visitors.

One recent passerby dropped by to see whether the tourism association had any topographical maps of Kuujjuaq. The answer was "no," but the association's coordinator, Vicki Gordon, was able to tell him where he could find what he was looking for.

During the recent caribou hunting season, the tourism association office was often a gathering spot for hunters stranded in town between flights. There, they could watch videos about Nunavik, browse through pamphlets on the region, or even settle down with a book on Inuit culture.

Bouchard granted money

Having a permanent home is just one of many positive developments at the NTA since Quebec's premier, Lucien Bouchard, signed it into existence last year, granting it a budget as well as many other official perks.

Yet, alas, laying claim to the world's highest tides may still elude the fledgling organization.

Allen Gordon, the chair of the NTA's board, received calls from media across Eastern Canada after an article appeared in Nunatsiaq News about the possibility that tides in Leaf Bay might top those in the Bay of Fundy.

The NTA has been coy about the exact results of this summer's studies on the tidal range in Tasiujaq, but it appears that the existing record is still unbeaten.

Another tidal pressure gauge will continue to measure the tides in Leaf Bay throughout the winter to get a clearer picture of the annual cycle.

World's purest water

But Gordon said that he's ready to focus on what Nunavik does have, namely, the world's largest caribou herds and the world's purest lake water, found in the Pingualuit crater.

He also wants to concentrate the NTA's efforts on consolidating the outfitting market that brings in 2000 hunters and fishermen every year to the region. The NTA has 40 members, many of whom are outfitters.

"We want to keep what we have, so we're not going to get away from it," he said. "We'll get to other markets when we have the product."

Next spring, "Petersen's Hunting," a specialty sports hunting publication, will feature a spotlight article on Nunavik caribou hunting that's sure to draw more sports hunters to the region.

And the NTA has prepared its own flyer called "Nunavik: Land of the Quebec Labrador Caribou" that's sent to anyone who requests information on hunting. Similar flyers on fishing and hiking in the Torngat mountains are also planned.

Dr. Normand Tremblay, a long-time resident of the community and an avid hiker, is working with the NTA and other local organizations to plot out a 20-kilometer walk that can be mapped and developed for visitors.

But the NTA won't go aggressively after the adventure tourism market yet, said Gordon.

A strategic study prepared for the NTA on tourism in Nunavik said that the only group ready to accommodate these adventure travelers is Qimutsik Eco-tours, a dog team outfitting company owned by young Kuujjuaq entrepreneurs Charlie Watt Jr. and Junior May.

New hotel in POV

Inuit Adventures, a division of the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec, does plan to offer excursions based from Puvirnituq's new hotel scheduled to open in late November and will market these trips at international shows.

The NTA has decided not to attend these events. Instead, it has hired photographer Heiko Wittenborn to build up a bank of photos of the region that will be used in advertisements and brochures.

These new ads for Nunavik have produced some odd telephone inquiries already, such as one from a guy who wanted to buy some warm boots and another from a tourist who said he wanted to come up by train to see Nunavik's polar bears.

Gordon referred the first caller to a store and the other to a tourism association in Churchill, Manitoba.

Gordon suggested that anyone who is curious about what Nunavik can offer visitors should check out the NTA's website at www.nunavik-tourism.net.