Indigenous tourism sector sees substantial growth in Manitoba

The growth of Manitoba's Indigenous tourism industryis a welcome and exciting development, according to businesses owners and stakeholders.

The number of Indigenous-owned businesses in the sector have gone up substantially and createdover 1,000 jobs, according to a newConference Board of Canada report called Going Places: Economic Impact of the Indigenous Tourism Sector in Manitoba.That growth also helped bring in over $100 million in revenue last year.

"We're definitely really excited for the report to be released," said Indigenous Tourism Manitoba CEO Holly Courchene. "And to be able to show the public the growth that we've had in Indigenous tourism here in Manitoba over the last few years."

The number of Indigenous-owned tourism businessesgrew from 81 to 170 between 2019 and 2023, according to the Conference Board of Canada report.Those businesses have also created more than 1,000 full-time jobs in the province.

The accommodation sector makes up more than half of those jobs, followed by arts, culture and heritage at 17 per cent and food and beverage at 7.9 per cent.

Courchene also said theIndigenous-owned businesses in the sectorbrought in $115 million in revenue in 2023.

Indigenous Tourism Manitoba incorporated in 2021, but Courchene said the work goes back to 2019 with the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and Travel Manitoba.

The two organizations released a Manitoba Indigenous tourism strategy on how to grow the industry in the province, she said.

"From that strategy, it was discovered that a provincial territorial organization such as [Indigenous Tourism Manitoba] was needed in order to continue that growth," said Courchene.

Courchene said the organization also acts as a liaison between Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses and to help owners navigate the tourism industry.

"We understand the barriers that exist to develop Indigenous businesses," she said. "We really get down on the ground level with our operators to understand those barriers and how we can help them navigate what type of education that's required from the operators to be more involved in the travel trade."

Business owners pleased to see growth of sector

The growth of the Indigenous-tourism sector is an exciting development for Christa Guenther, who is the executive chef and owner of Feast Cafe Bistro on Ellice Avenue.

Guenther, who is from Peguis First Nation, said a lot of communities are stepping up to the plate to "share what they have to share."

"It really builds our community, it creates more jobs for our Indigenous people, it creates more sharing," she said. "It creates more positive change and it really highlights our people and our culture in a really positive light, so I think that's really important too."

Just Friday, Guenther said a couple from Texas visited the restaurant after seeing it on a list of Indigenous restaurants to visit in Winnipeg. She said it's an honour to be able to serve people from all over the world.

"That's [where] I'm seeing huge changes," she said. "A lot more new customers, a lot of touristsare coming from the U.S., France China, even just our own backyard."

Guenther also said when she opened the restaurant almost a decade ago, there weren't many placesin the country that promoted Indigenous food and culture. But now, especially in Manitoba, there are a handful of places that offer Indigenous food to the public.

"I'm just in shock about how quickly the Indigenous tourism sector has risen, particularly in hospitality," she said.

Indigenous knowledge keeper Diane Maytwayashing is also seeing the impacts of the sector's growth first-hand.

She said she's seen her business, Whiteshell Petroforms Authentic Indigenous Tours, growaround 70 per cent over the past four years. Maytwayashing said she's gone from doing two tours a month, to sometimes two or three in a week.

She said theland-based learning tours in the Whiteshell Provincial Park are in high demand.

Maytwayashing said she feels it's a responsibility to tell the stories of the land and history of the Anishinaabe people who once lived and gathered in the Whiteshell area.

"I think people are looking for more understanding, knowledge, stories of the Indigenous people of these lands," she said. "I think that there's a great interest and I think through tourism is a way to maybe get these stories or understand the people of these lands."

Meanwhile,Courchene hopes the sector will continue to grow and that all levels of government will make investmentsin Indigenous-owned businesses.

"We think that Manitoba in the future is going to be seen as a place to come and visit and learn about the Indigenous people here and learn about reconciliation," she said. "We see a really great future for Indigenous tourism in Manitoba."