Helps to alleviate poverty ‐
$$ in local hands
Gives back a sense of pride
Can contribute to schools and clinics
Can give more central role to women
Stops flight to cities from rural areas
Does not destroy the environment
Happy hosts equal happy guests
Allows closer connection to other cultures
Invitations to experience culture
We feel a “bit”
better about the footprint we leave
It can be great fun
Doesn’t have to be expensive
Can be luxurious or as simple as you want
It benefits the hosts
Safeguards the future of destination
Happy tourists equal happy hosts
Experience local cultures and environments
Involving local people in the experience
Fair ‐
helps ensure they will give you an even
warmer welcome
i.e. a local guide from the destination will open
your eyes to the culture and way of life far better than an expat guide could ever do –
they will also
earn a much needed income from you.
Double page spread advertisement for The London Evening Standard.
Copy reads: Thousands of holidays to hundreds of places that haven't
been ravaged by mass tourism
Earth Rhythms, Celes Davar
"...Earth Rhythms has the ability to transform the ordinary into the
extraordinary. Without reservation, an adventure with Earth Rhythms is a
moment in time 'when the cup runs over." ‐
Goerz Family, Manitoba, 2007
The Canadian tourism experience in
Nunatsiavut will be developed by the people of Nunatsiavut, in ways that “are
culturally sensitive, economically viable, and sustainable”
( Fran Williams).
Seeing the invisible through conversations
that matter
“It’s never enough just to tell people about some new
insight.
Rather, you have to get them to experience it in a way that evokes its power and possibility.
Instead
of pouring knowledge into people’s heads, you need to help them grind a new set of eyeglasses so they can
see the world in a new way.”
‐
John Seely Brown, Seeing Differently:
Insights on Innovation (from The World Café
book).
Going twice to a salmon fish net with local fishers to
take Atlantic salmon and Arctic char right out of the net.
Eating fresh Arctic char that has been smoked for
fifteen hours or so in a cold smoke, using blackberry (crowberry) sod over coals.
Mmmmm!
Walked with, learned from, became
educated by, and was inspired by three amazing stone carvers ‐
Canadian legends
and
icons John Terriak, Glibert Hay, and Walter Piercey.
To walk with them is to
understand marble, soapstone, serpentine, labradorite, and Newfoundland marble
from a spiritual perspective
Listened to the language of Inuktitut being
spoken in five different communities.
Tried sounding out Inuktituk phrases myself.
Saw minke whales in Hamilton Inlet...and
photographed them splashing about in front of the arriving coastal boat, the
Northern Ranger.
Met a grass‐sewer, who makes a variety of different
functional artworks ‐
mats, bowls, platters, baskets ‐ and learned how to identify "sewing grass" right down
at the salt‐water's edge, and then went to her home to see works that had been produced by her mother
several decades earlier.
Went up‐stream like the Atlantic Salmon
do, on the English River, to learn about salmon conservation at a very cool, eight‐
year old salmon trap and fence project monitoring salmon, char and trout.
Was
inspired by the local people and we coined a phrase that seems to capture their sense
of pride quite well ‐
Guardians of the English River.
Saw, touched, and watched Labradorite being cut ‐
a beautiful,
blue‐crystal studded rock that was polished at a stone plant in
Nain.
Talked to the production manager, walked on beautiful tiles of
Labradorite, and had a new appreciation for a stone that is loved in
Italy.
Talked with the ships' mates of a crabbing boat, walked through a large
crab fishing plant being guided by the production manager, and then tasted
fresh snow crab which was available locally for $6.50 a pound.
WOW!!
Ordered and bought customized stone
carvings, seal‐skin mitts, and seal‐skin boots direct from the artists.
Traveled with a local guide through some of
the most beautiful islands north of the Caribbean, watched the sun set, traveled
with a mother eider and her young, and watched our guide catch an Arctic Char while thunderheads disappeared in the
east.
Tasted lovage (like celery leaves) for the first time, and saw eggs in an eider
duck nest close by.
Walked through the lofts, hallways and floors of historic Moravian
structures.
Experienced the rare Rigolet square dance
and participated in a "stepper down" with local fiddle and guitar players, and listened
to the beautiful sounds of Inuit drum‐ dancers.
Learned about Innu and Inuit cultures at
the very beautiful and iconic Labrador Interpretation Centre
(which I wish every
Canadian could experience), where I touched a beautiful 1 metre high Gilbert
Hay amazing soapstone carving.
Met wonderful new friends, artists, fishers, and entrepreneurs.
Was inspired by the people, their welcoming nature, and the traditions
that they introduced me to!!!