Three-year strategic national
partnership with the Indigenous Tourism Association of
Canada signed
KELOWNA, BC and SYILX
TERRITORY, BC, Nov. 13, 2019 /CNW/ -
(IITC) – The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada has significantly increased its
wingspan after a $100,000, over three
years, commitment with WestJet was announced today, during the
International Indigenous Tourism Association Conference in
Kelowna, Syilx Territory, BC
(IITC).
"From launching Indigenous itineraries with WestJet this summer
to announcing this invaluable multi-year commitment, WestJet
is providing ITAC and our Indigenous tourism entrepreneurs endless
opportunities to grow Indigenous tourism across Canada and showcase our experiences to global
audiences," says Keith Henry,
President and CEO of ITAC.
The strategic partnership will see WestJet and ITAC
collaborate in the following areas:
- Enhancing export readiness of selected Indigenous tourism
businesses as they ready for international
visitors.
- Support the work and
ambition of Indigenous youth entrepreneurs by
supporting their participation at the IITC in 2020, 2021,
2022.
- Utilize WestJet's inflight entertainment system to tell the
story of the range of Indigenous tourism experiences via its
inflight entertainment system both domestically and
internationally.
- Collaborate on content and stories about Indigenous tourism to
be featured in WestJet's inflight magazine throughout the
year.
- WestJet will become the official airline of the annual
International Indigenous Tourism Conference which is held in new
Canadian destinations every year.
"Bringing people together is what we do and in that spirit, we
are partnering with Indigenous peoples, entrepreneurs and youth of
Canada by sponsoring ITAC," said
Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief
Commercial Officer. "In doing so, we are proud to support
Indigenous stories, history and culture across Canada and the globe."
WestJet is collaborating on global initiatives with ITAC and
Indigenous leaders including the blessing of WestJet's first Boeing
787 Dreamliner and the airline's Dreamliner hangar. In early
May 2019, WestJet partnered with
Destination Canada and ITAC on an Indigenous tourism showcase in
London, UK, to help grow
opportunities and inform the global travel industry of the
importance of indigenous tourism, a unique and developing sector of
the Canadian tourism industry.
About the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada
The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is the lead organization
tasked with growing the Indigenous tourism industry across the
country. Inspired by a vision for a thriving Indigenous tourism
economy sharing authentic, memorable and enriching experiences,
ITAC develops relationships with other groups and regions with
similar mandates. By uniting the Indigenous tourism industry in
Canada, ITAC works to enable
collective support, product development, promotion and marketing of
authentic Indigenous cultural tourism businesses in a respectful
protocol. With Indigenous tourism outpacing Canadian tourism
activity overall and international demand for Indigenous
experiences at an all-time high, ITAC recently updated
its five year plan. To view packages and experiences
available visit www.indigenouscanada.travel. For more
information on ITAC visit www.indigenoustourism.ca
About WestJet
Together with WestJet's regional airlines, WestJet Encore and
WestJet Link, we offer scheduled service to more than 110
destinations in North America,
Central America, the Caribbean and Europe and to more than 250 destinations in
over 20 countries through our airline partnerships. WestJet
Vacations offers affordable, flexible vacations to more than 60
destinations and the choice of more than 800 hotels, resorts,
condos and villas. Members of the WestJet Rewards program earn
WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Members use
WestJet dollars towards the purchase of flights and vacations
packages to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods, and
have access to Member Exclusive fares offering deals to WestJet
destinations throughout our network and those of our partner
airlines.
WestJet is proud to be recognized for three consecutive years as
Best Airline in Canada (2017-19)
and awarded among travellers' favourite Mid-Sized Airlines in
North America (2019). From
2017-2018, WestJet was also awarded among travellers' favourite
Mid-Sized and Low-Cost Airlines in North
America. The airline was also recognized among the Economy
Class winners in North America,
2018. All awards are based on authentic reviews from the travelling
public on TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site. We are one
of very few airlines globally that does not commercially
overbook.
WestJet is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange
(TSX) under the symbol WJA. For more information about
everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.
For a selection of images and video assets please click on this
link
SOURCE WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership