Arctic Tourism Development: Examining the Franklin Wrecks as a Potential Tourism Destination
Creators: name: Weber, Melissa Sue
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2023
Subjects: Arctic Tourism
Tourism Development

description: Marine tourism in the Canadian Arctic is a rapidly growing industry. The discovery of two shipwrecks, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, in 2014 and 2016 was a monumental and historic moment in Canada. It is anticipated that their discovery will stimulate tourism demand and development opportunities in and around Gjoa Haven, Nunavut - the community that is nearest to the wreck's sites. The community of Gjoa Haven played a critical role in the discovery of the shipwrecks by participating in explorations and offering historical Inuit knowledge of the region and of relevant oral histories. The community will be co-managing the Wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site (WET NHS) with the federal government agency, Parks Canada and as such will have an influential role in the site's development and management. This study examined Arctic tourism development through various perspectives (i.e. residents' of Gjoa Haven and potential tourists) to achieve the overarching research aim of better understanding the current and potential future state of tourism within the region. This research sought to address several important research and knowledge gaps including: 1) a lack of baseline data on the current state of the marine tourism industry and marine tourism patterns and trends in the Canadian Arctic; 2) the absence of a comprehensive collection of community perspectives on Arctic tourism development; 3) in-depth understanding of the factors that influence, are contributing to and/or acting as a barrier to Arctic tourism development; and 4) a complete absence of information on potential tourists' desired visitor experiences, and motivations for visiting the region and the Franklin Wrecks. This thesis achieves four key research objectives, including: 1) Identifying temporal and spatial marine tourism trends in Inuit Nunangat; 2) Exploring Gjoa Haven residents' perspectives on tourism development around the Wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site; 3) Understanding the underlying factors influencing tourism development around the Wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site; and 4) Exploring visitor experience desires for the Franklin Wrecks sites. To achieve these objectives, several mixed methods were utilized including GIS and spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews, and surveys. Key results of the research efforts reveal that the there is potential for the Franklin Wrecks to become a tourism destination as there is a growing cruise industry, demand from highly motivated potential tourists and a strong desire from the community of Gjoa Haven to engage in tourism development. Marine tourism voyages and related shore activity has been steadily increasing in the region; however, the results indicate that the industry is still in its infancy as 150 unique on-shore locations have been advertised to tourists from 2008 to 2019 with a minimum of 44 different on-shore locations advertised each season. Further, there is demand from highly motivated potential tourists to visit the region and engage in Franklin related tourism experiences but the current cost, access to the region and available infrastructure were acknowledged as potential limiting factors. Residents of Gjoa Haven who participated in this study recognized that there are significant benefits and opportunities associated with tourism related development but also understood that there are factors influencing this development (e.g., tourism resources, access, infrastructure, and capacity). It is paramount that any tourism development in the region is community driven and sustainable with clear residual benefits to the community itself. Inuit and Northerners' must be involved in the entire tourism planning process and be at the forefront of any management plans. Ensuring tourism development is realized in a sustainable and self-determined manner and examining the potential of the Franklin Wrecks as a tourism destination requires a significant understanding of tourism patterns, community perspectives, factors influencing tourism development and potential tourists' desired experiences. This research achieved this by contributing to the academic literature on tourism development but by also providing the community of Gjoa Haven and the region of Inuit Nunangat with comprehensive baseline data. The findings from this thesis can be utilized by the region (i.e., Inuit Nunangat) and community (i.e., Gjoa Haven) to ensure self-determined and sustainable tourism development.