The
high arctic has been a tourism destination "in waiting".
Despite the increasing number of visitors to many Arctic
destinations, Banks Island, the most westerly Island of
the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, has largely been ignored
by tourists to date. In 1992, Aulavik National Park was
created, and is co-managed by the Government of Canada,
and the Inuvialuit. These residents of Banks Island amount
to a mere 140 individuals today, and all live in the community
of Sachs Harbour in the South West, whereas Aulavik National
Park is in the North East of the island. In addition, the
park is operating under policy guidelines which tend to
work against the community benefiting from tourism to the
park. This has presented some unique problems in appropriate
and sensitive tourism development. This paper illustrates
how an integrated approach to tourism planning was used
to help protect a national park, while fostering community
economic and social well-being. The approach used focuses
on assisting communities and agencies to optimize the outcomes
of tourism rather than mitigate against damage, and includes
the role that local people may play in influencing appropriate
tourism development.
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