I believe your recent coverage of the spending on tourism marketing has been somewhat unfair, or at least has not told the whole story.
I am certainly no expert on this topic, but would like to point out two examples. Comparisons were made between Yukon and PEI and the apparent better return on dollars spent by PEI. But how many millions of people live within a day’s drive or an hour’s flight of PEI, compared to Yukon?
Comparisons were also made with Alaska. Now, I do not know what per cent of tourists visit any given place because of a family or friend connection, but I suspect it could be a fairly substantial factor, at least with respect to North Americans.
Many people visit Yukon or Alaska because they have family or friends there, or it may at least contribute to them deciding to visit. Yukon’s population is about 33,000, while Alaska’s is over 650,000. That’s almost 20 times the drawing power.
Ross Burnett
Whitehorse