Non-Canadian Indigenous Tourism Best Practices

Lheidli T'enneh First Nation (LTN) is developing a tourism focused economy that has multiple indigenous owned businesses. We are seeking to develop tourism based businesses that are currently centered on the Ancient Forest/Chun T'oh Whudujut Provincial Park and Protected Areas. LTN has received a grant to make upgrades to the boardwalk in the Park, to develop a section of the park to highlight their pre-contact traditional culture referred to as a Culture Area, to develop a new riparian trail, and to build an interpretive centre at the current park trail location. LTN is seeking to support our members entrepreneurial spirit by providing them with information to assist them in picking business opportunities, and start businesses, that have a high chance of success. We are seeking information for businesses largely outside of Canada but also run by indigenous members, to determine how to break the mold in Canada and how to create something unique. We need to know: 1) what kinds of indigenous tourism related businesses have high success rates, 2) what are the best practices for those businesses, and 3) how is success measured for those running their businesses. Challenges: Lheidli T'enneh members face challenges that are likely common among many first time entrepreneurs - low/limited capital for business initiation, limited knowledge or experience running businesses, limited awareness of regulations to start businesses, and they aren't sure how to include their culture into a business. The Park itself is located 1 hour 20 minutes east of Prince George on highway 16 and it presents some challenges as it does not have power to the site or consistent cellular service.