As part of ongoing efforts to attract foreign visitors, NWT Tourism will be heading down Mexico way.

SA国际影视传媒淛ust as much as we Northerners are fascinated about those sunny locations, Mexicans are actually quite interested in the Rockies and touring the North, Banff and seeing auroras,SA国际影视传媒� said Cathie Bolstad, CEO of NWT Tourism.

While NWT Tourism is currently marketing the North as a travel destination in China, Australia, Japan, Germany and South Korea, new federal funding is allowing the territory's destination marketing organization to look towards Mexico.

Representatives are gearing up for a trade mission to the country in the fall.

Why Mexico?

NWT Tourism is closely partnered with Destination Canada, a Crown corporation marketing Canada internationally.

According to from Destination Canada, 359,000 Mexicans visited Canada in 2017, an increase of 47 per cent over the previous year.

The increase was due to travel visas being replaced with electronic travel authorizations (ETAs) for Mexican visitors in December 2016, explained Bolstad.

Right now, most Mexican visitors to Canada are travelling to British Columbia and Alberta, she said.

SA国际影视传媒淪ince we work collaboratively with both B.C. and Alberta in bringing and encouraging itineraries that involve a trip North, this market is of interest to us,SA国际影视传媒� said Bolstad.

Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver are all gateways to the Northwest Territories because they offer direct flights to Yellowknife.

And while Mexican travellers prefer to visit in the summer, they SA国际影视传媒渆xpress interestSA国际影视传媒� in visiting during the winter according to a of the 2019/20 NWT Tourism Marketing Plan from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

SA国际影视传媒淎s part of the research findings from Destination CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 2017 Global Tourism Watch research program, 43 per cent of Mexicans identified northern lights as being an important enough activity to base their entire trip around, followed closely by natural attractions like mountains and waterfalls,SA国际影视传媒� states a post on the department's .

The mission

Bolstad wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 say whether diplomatic tensions between the United States and Mexico are anticipated to affect the itineraries of Mexican travellers.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e not looking at that specifically,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e looking at who are the Mexican visitors that are coming, where are they going, does the route that theySA国际影视传媒檙e travelling and the kind of experience theySA国际影视传媒檙e choosing suggest that they are a fit and a market for us.SA国际影视传媒�

The five-day trade mission in September will be about bringing buyers and sellers together and some of the territory's tourism operators will also be making the trip to market their products, she said.

SA国际影视传媒淭here will be probably three, what we would call training opportunities or seminars put on by NWT Tourism,SA国际影视传媒� said Bolstad.

The seminars will help educate travel agents in Mexico about travel routes to the NWT, what the connections are, and what tourism products and packages are available.