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Wildlife as a tourism resource in Nunavut

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

Laine Chanteloup
Laine Chanteloup*
Affiliation:
Université de Savoie, Laboratoire Edytem, UMR 5204 du CNRS, CISM, Pôle Montagne, Campus scientifique, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France ([email protected])
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Abstract

Wildlife plays a significant role in the development of tourism in Nunavut. A certain amount of tourism in the Canadian Arctic depends on the wealth and uniqueness of the wildlife in the polar region. Two different forms of tourism based on Arctic wildlife can be distinguished: wildlife viewing and sport hunting. Both of these forms of tourism question the link between the different uses of the resource and the perceptions of wildlife. Based on an analysis of multiple information sources (literature review, newspaper analysis and semi-structured interviews), this article examines the emergence of wildlife as a tourism resource for Inuit communities and questions the issues linked to the emergence of this resource use. Using the example of polar bears, the article focuses on tourism dynamics. The article concludes that the polar bear sport hunting resource has evolved along with the changing environment. This tourism resource could be reinvented, with investments targeting other forms of tourism, such as wildlife viewing, which seems to better fit Westerners’ expectations, but is not necessarily a more environmentally friendly type of tourism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 49 , Issue 3: THEMED SECTION: POLAR WORLDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2011 , July 2013 , pp. 240 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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