Welcome to the North
Travel Courier chats with Joe Bailey, owner, president & CEO of North Star Adventures, about the Indigenous-owned tour operator and why clients should consider the Northwest Territories for their next getaway.
Tell us a little about North Star Adventures and what you offer?
North Star Adventures is a 100% Indigenous owned outdoor adventure tour company based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories established in 2007.
In the winter seasons, we specialize in Aurora Hunting tours and packages. In the summer seasons, we specialize in once-in-a-lifetime northern Canada wilderness and Indigenous culture experiences. We are from the North, we know the North.
The Northwest Territories, my home, is an incredible place to live, everyone needs to visit at least once in their life. We have two of the largest fresh waters lakes in the world. We have one of the longest rivers in the world and longest in Canada. We have the Arctic Ocean, we have the Arctic Tundra, we have the spectacular and world famous Nahanni National Park. We have the amazing Aurora Borealis (268 nights of the year!) and to top it all off, we have strong, resistant and vibrant Indigenous cultures in all regions of the Northwest Territories.
Joe Bailey
How have you shifted strategies during the pandemic?
The pandemic has definitely had a crippling effect on us. As a result of the pandemic, the NWT borders have been closed since May and no one is coming. We have had some time to review all facets of our operations. We revisited our long term plans and have made some changes. We have streamlined our operations and our tour products. We have stepped up our efforts and are redirecting resources to our northern Canada wilderness and Indigenous culture experiences, including our NEW “Our Dene Journey: Past, Present & Future” experience.
What are some of your most popular tours or your personal favourites?
As much as I enjoy the Aurora, I have seen Aurora all of my life and I still enjoy seeing it every night, but I enjoy sharing our Indigenous culture with our guests more. As a 100% Indigenous owned and operated tour company, we kind of automatically incorporate elements of our culture into all of our tours and packages. However, with our NEW “Our Dene Journey: Past, Present & Future” experience, guests will learn the history our culture, meet respected Elders and Knowledge Keepers, participate in traditional activities, taste the delicious traditional foods and travel into the wilderness and the communities to learn firsthand about our special relationship to the land. As such, my other two favourites are our Mackenzie Nahanni Experience and our Mackenzie River Canoe Expeditions, both amazing experiences.
When are you planning on restarting operations?
We are currently preparing for our summer season experiences, which starts with our Mackenzie Nahanni Experience on June 20, 2021 with the last booking of the season starting September 12, 2021. For this package we will have 15 booking dates. Guests booking in June and July will experience our 24hr daylight phenomenon, while those guests booking in August and September will experience our amazing Aurora Borealis phenomenon.
Can you talk a bit about what makes the Northwest Territories a great place to visit?
The Northwest Territories, my home, is an incredible place to live, everyone needs to visit the Northwest Territories at least once in their life. We have two of the largest fresh waters lakes in the world. We have one of the longest rivers in the world and longest in Canada. We have the Arctic Ocean, we have the Arctic Tundra, we have the spectacular and world famous Nahanni National Park. We have the amazing Aurora Borealis (268 nights of the year!) and to top it all off, we have strong, resistant and vibrant Indigenous cultures in all regions of the Northwest Territories. We are the only tour company to showcase all of these jewels with our packages.
Many of our readers are travel agents. Do you work with the trade in any way?
Yes, we are a market and export ready tour company and welcome all new travel agent partnerships.
Do you have anything to add?
Here at North Star Adventures, we take great pride in providing the highest quality of service to our clients. As an example of this, we have the most reviews on Trip Advisor for all Yellowknife and Northwest Territories based tour companies.
We also take great pride in providing genuine Indigenous cultural experiences. Unfortunately there are some Indigenous tour companies out there are doing tours for the sake of doing tours. I was raised by my grandparents in the Dene traditional lifestyle and it is very important to me that when we do our cultural tours, we do them in a manner that respects our culture and our Ancestors.
Also, we are now taking bookings for our 2021 and 2022 seasons. Please keep checking our website for tour updates and/or follow us on our Twitter (@NStarAdventures) and Instagram (northstaradventures) and our Facebook (North Star Adventures) for amazing photos and tour updates.
