Arctic Tourism Development: Examining the Franklin Wrecks as a Potential Tourism Destination
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...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
2023
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10393/44837 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-29043 |
| Summary: | 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 ... |
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