Shifting images: an historical and contemporary view of tourism development in the northwest territories of canada

Abstract

This paper explores from a supply-side perspective how image and language are used to promote destinations and how images change over time in response to consumer demand. The paper focuses on the representation of natural and cultural heritage in the region of Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. Visual and oral components of the region's heritage, history, and early literature are, with contemporary travel literature, reviewed in the form of promotional brochures for the region as a whole. It was found that unique auras of destination image formation have developed over time through creative use of language and imagery, which tourism suppliers have used to differentiate products and invoke existential desire in the mind of potential visitors. Over time NWT tourism imagery has moved from promoting a natural heritage to focusing on the cultural heritage opportunities in the region. The paper concludes by proposing a model of ‘perceptions of possibility’ as a result of the interaction between supply-induced imagery, organic imagery and visitor characteristics.

Keywords:

• Image
• culture
• nature
• adventure
• Northwest Territories