Indigenous tourism continues to grow, with new partnerships and initiatives supporting the promotion of authentic, meaningful experiences across Canada. Domestic and international travellers show increasing interest in partaking in these experiences, and the significance of Indigenous tourism’s role in reconciliation cannot be understated.
With this high level of demand, there is ample opportunity for business development and entrepreneurship.
In partnership with the Indigenous Tourism Industry Association of Canada (ITAC), Tourism HR Canada is delighted to offer Pathways to Indigenous Market Readiness, a robust eLearning program specially designed for Indigenous tourism operators who wish to start, launch, and operate successful Indigenous tourism businesses.
“ITAC is delighted to have collaborated with Tourism HR Canada on the development of this engaging new program,” stated Keith Henry, President and CEO of ITAC. “Pathways to Indigenous Market Readiness can serve as a first-rate resource to help prepare for Original Original accreditation, and is also the perfect go-to source for Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs eager to navigate and expand their market-readiness.”
The innovative program is designed to operate using the unifying elements of “pathways” (major units of study). Each pathway contains multiple “stepping stones” representing the steps along the pathway toward achieving learning outcomes.
Each stepping stone is enhanced by interactive learning content, tools, templates, and “Voices” videos offering guidance from Indigenous tourism operators who share stories about their real-life operations and what their keys to success were. They also contain a series of topic-specific “Insights” videos in which Indigenous tourism experts share their knowledge and experience in the creation and optimization of successful Indigenous tourism businesses.
In addition to skills development, the Pathways program can guide Indigenous tourism operators who wish to achieve Original Original Market Ready accreditation, with materials aimed at two of the three Original Original Accreditation categories: the dimensions identified for becoming Business Ready (starting and operating a business for a local market) and those for becoming Visitor Ready (for those looking to grow their business to attract visitors beyond their local market).
Each of the pathways in the Pathways program is closely aligned with the Original Original standards framework and contains specific learning information, tools, templates and methods to achieve the Original Original Accreditation requirements.
Pathways to Indigenous Market Readiness is available free of charge until the end of the year—don’t miss out! Learners who take advantage of this offer will have access to the programming for a full year. In 2025, the program will be available for $250.
Learn more and access the Pathways to Indigenous Market Readiness here