Image
Image Caption
Summary
Indigenous Tourism Alberta (ITA) has revised its one-year action plan to support of members through the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. ITA is now offering a stimulus.
The fund is one of the key action items within the revised action plan to provide sustainability to the industry. It will cover costs such as marketing overhead, business costs, health and safety standard improvements and staffing.
“Indigenous tourism businesses have been hit especially hard by COVID-19 and the travel restrictions that have necessarily been put in place,” said Shae Bird, executive director of ITA. The goal is to help the industry remain competitive to accelerate recovery and contribute to the diversification of our provincial economy.
Indigenous tourism in Alberta is worth an estimated $166.2 million of GDP, reads a press statement from ITA. And carries with it tremendous upside potential.
COVID-19 has had a direct negative impact on the sector, and could potentially lose 62 per cent of its value this year in Alberta alone. Sustaining Indigenous tourism in Alberta is a key priority for ITA.
The ITA Stimulus Fund is open to all members that are export-ready, market-ready and visitor-ready and provides up to $7,500 per member operator. The stimulus fund works in conjunction with the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada’s (ITAC) stimulus fund, meaning the total contribution of the two funds cannot exceed $25,000 per operator.
Applications for the Stimulus Fund can be filled out here.