Aurora tourism industry braces for financial slowdown

Tourism companies that bring Japanese travellers to Canada's North say they hope to weather the current economic storm, which has already claimed one tourism operator in the Northwest Territories.

Tour companies like C.J. Link of Whitehorse and Aurora Village in Yellowknife say they don't plan to follow the lead of Yellowknife's Aurora World, which shut down this month because of declining business.

All three companies offer tourism packages targeting mainly Japanese tourists who want to view the northern lights.

C.J. Link operator Naoto Motoyama said he is expecting only several hundred Japanese clients at his Whitehorse outfit this winter — far fewer than the usual 1,000 or more he gets most winters.

But instead of closing down, Motoyama said his company, which is part of Alberta-based Yamnuska Mountain Tours, will focus more on offering upscale packages. For instance, some hiking trip packages offered this autumn proved successful, he said.

"Could be tough to get more people, so that's why we [are] focusing … [on] the quality," Motoyama told CBC News.

Just east of Yellowknife in the N.W.T., Aurora Village operator Don Morin said he has not seen the same drop in business that forced Aurora World to shut down.

While it's too early in the season to see how the numbers will pan out, Morin said he expects to get at least 4,000 visitors, the number that used his service last winter, and possibly even 5,000.

"The numbers are very low right now; this is just the start of the season," he said. "So, the numbers will start to climb in early December, and then they'll just keep climbing."

'Solar maximum' could boost business

Motoyama said last year he had a little less than the roughly 1,000 Japanese clients he usually gets a season. He cited several reasons for the drop, including the fact that a Japanese television drama that focused on the romance of the northern lights had gone off the air.

Other Arctic countries are also competing for the Japanese market, including the United States and some Scandinavian nations. The grim economic outlook is likely driving tourist numbers down further, Motoyama added.

At the same time, Motoyama and other northern tourism operators have taken note of a celestial development that could help them attract new business: the "solar maximum," in which the northern lights — also known as the aurora borealis — will become more frequent and active.

The solar maximum marks the peak of sunspot activity during the 11-year solar cycle. The more sunspots there are, the more aurora can be seen in the sky.

Astronomers predict the solar maximum will happen sometime between 2010 and 2012.

"Tourism operators, if they know well in advance that the skies are going to be really well-lit from 2010 to about 2014, then that's an opportunity to really market that as a good product," said James Pugsley, president of Astronomy North in Yellowknife.

Motoyama said he plans to use the solar maximum to better promote his Yukon aurora tours.