Indigenous tourism operators hope Canadians vacation at home this summer

Indigenous-owned tourism businesses in Manitoba are hoping Canadians stay on the north side of the border amidst the tariff war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump.

April was the fourth consecutive month to witness a year-over-year decline in return trips to Canada from the United States by vehicle, with around 35 per cent fewer Canadians visiting the south by land compared to last year according to Statistics Canada.

As Canadians search for new adventures in their home turf, it’s time to consider supporting businesses with “deeper,” ancestral connections to that land, says Indigenous Tourism Manitoba CEO Holly Courchene.

APTN News met with Courchene in Winnipeg at the Indigenous-owned Wyndham Garden Winnipeg Airport Hotel on Long Plain First Nation’s urban reserve.

She says Indigenous tourism is growing rapidly in Manitoba, with more than 170 Indigenous-owned tourism businesses and experiences throughout the province today – more than doubling what it was in 2017.

“We have a lot to offer,” says Courchene, “We know that travellers, whether they be international travellers or domestic travellers, they’re looking for those authentic Indigenous stories and those experiences.”

These offerings provide more than just a memorable adventure, says Courchene, they help “bridge the gap” between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and offers economic reconciliation.

“A lot of these businesses and experiences are telling their story, about being an Indigenous person, where they come from, their history of their community and family. So, when you visit these experiences and you hear these stories, you’re actually learning about Indigenous people and history,” she adds.

When it comes to family and generational connections to the land, Indigenous business-owner Ashley Smith has quite the story.

Along with her family of five, she operates the Turtle Village tourist destination in Wasagaming campground at Riding Mountain National Park on the south shores of Clear Lake.

By happenstance, she wasn’t the first in her ancestral line to do so.

“One of my ancestors, John (The Falcon) Tanner, was known to be one of the first to walk the shores of Clear Lake and build winter lodging in the park,” says Smith, “We fast forward 220 years later and Turtle Village is here building winter lodging in the park.”

Turtle Village is comprised of eight year-round micro-cabins, or ‘Turtle Shells’, as well as ice fishing huts in the winter for catching Pickerel and Walleye on the 100-feet deep, freshwater lake only a short walk away from the site.

The “glamping” micro-cabins were built by her son when he was 17, her daughter Jaylee runs the social media, and her younger daughter DawnJae takes care of the maintenance.

She was able to add her own traditional touches like cultural storytelling, guided experiences, and bannock-making packages, a reason she says other Indigenous people should consider a business in tourism as “you can develop it and structure it however you want.”

She believes Indigenous tourism across the country will continue to prosper in our current ‘stay-cation’ era.

“We’ve been going off and discovering the world but I think we’re in an era and a time that we just need to go into our own backyard and we’re going to see how great and beautiful of a country we have.”

Indigenous Tourism Manitoba says it will be opening a visitor centre in Winnipeg in the near future.”