Canada’s Indigenous Tourism Branding Serves as Model for the Americas
Skift Take
At a time when travel demand for inclusion is on the rise — not to mention a global reckoning on racial equity — the Canadian government’s neglect of its once-robust indigenous tourism sector is clearly short-sighted. Will a new campaign find Canadians heeding a different call instead this summer?
In what is a first in the Americas, the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada has launched a new brand mark, titled “The Original Original," to certify and help consumers identify and learn about indigenous-led tourism experiences and products in Canada.
It’s part of a major promotional push to save the remaining 1,000 indigenous tourism businesses — from an original 1,900 in pre-Covid — and place them at the forefront of Canadians' minds as the country reopens to domestic tourism.
“The mark is really signaling a restart for us,” said Keith Henry, CEO of Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC), adding that indigenous tourism businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic. “We're just trying to rebuild sentiment, a lot of it is speaking to our indigenous communities and our businesses that we can start rebuilding.”
Alongside the Original Original brand mark, a new website simplifies digital booking of indigenous tourism experiences across Canada, and an ep
