Tourism historian and professor Hal Rothman has studied tourist meccas throughout North America. Last winter he told an audience of tourism planners in Whitehorse that they should actively plan for the changes to come.

Tourism is already changing the Yukon landscape and identity. The big mines have closed and tourism is now the territory's top private sector industry. It provides a source of income for 70 percent of Yukon businesses. But with more tourists on the horizon, the Yukon government must determine how to direct tourism's growth while protecting what makes the place valuable now.

"Communities get transformed with tourism-people change the places they visit by visiting them," Rothman says. "It's often a default decision by many communities to go into tourism. The key is to plan for it carefully, and to do that it helps to have clarity on what is special about one's place."

Two years ago, the Yukon government began territory-wide discussions on the future of tourism. Some of the findings weren't surprising-people want jobs and communities want sustainable economies. But they do not want growth to come at the cost of their lifestyles and environment. "No Banffs!" is the rallying cry for residents who feel Yukon's identity should not be defined by tourism.

With a population of just 30,000 in an area roughly the size of California, Yukon is one of the continent's most intact wilderness frontiers. The territory has what other regions are losing at alarming rates - healthy ecosystems, populations of wildlife, wild rivers, clean water and authentic character built from its First Nations roots and Klondike history.

The current marketing strategy of the territorial government aims to capitalize on this image of authenticity, using the slogan: "To be the unique, legendary Yukon through real experiences, real people, real history and real nature." The campaign primarily targets Europeans and niche markets such as wilderness adventure, convention travel and educational or "learning" tourism.
Still unclear is how the government will ensure the influx of tourists does not change the "real" qualities that attract visitors and retain residents.

It is not an easy thing to do. Parks Canada's David Neufeld believes more public discussion of tourism's role in the territory is needed. "We need this type of dialogue if we are to help tourism grow properly, and I think it is part of our role as Parks Canada to nurture it," says Neufeld.

To help protect Yukon's future, the Yukon government developed the Yukon Wilderness Tourism Licensing Act in 1999. Strongly supported by the adventure travel sector, the legislation is intended to minimize damage to the wilderness qualities that attract tourists. The act establishes basic standards for backcountry safety and no-trace travel. It also requires monitoring of the number of tourists on Yukon's rivers and wilderness areas so that wilderness carrying capacity thresholds can be identified.

The government also initiated an expansion of its system of parks and protected areas in 1997. The Yukon Protected Areas Strategy aims to select representative areas in each of Yukon's ecoregions for protection, but the strategy has been shrouded in debate and only two new areas have received protection. The minority Liberal government, in power since 2000, suspended implementation of the strategy in April 2002.

There are residents and politicians who still pin their economic hopes on the resource extraction industries, despite the boom and bust cycles mining historically delivered. Some advocates of the old economy fear that promoting tourism will lead to social and ecological restrictions on mining and other resource development.

"Tourism is an economic strategy that merits examination," says Rothman. "But it's not a panacea, and it won't solve all your problems." Then he rattles off a daunting list of all the places where unrestrained tourism evolved ad hoc and produced questionable results.

That's what happens when you fail to plan and prepare properly, he says. "It's not too late here - design the tourism future you want while it's still optional."

Teresa Earle <teresa@earle.ca> is a writer and consultant in Whitehorse, Yukon. Darielle Talarico <info@arcticvision.com> teaches Issues in Ecotourism at Yukon College in Whitehorse, Yukon.

www.tirc.gov.yk.ca - Yukon tourism reports and statistics are available online from the Yukon Government's Tourism Information Resource Centre.