Returning to Travel in a Spirit of Reconciliation

Returning to Travel in a Spirit of Reconciliation

What if you could do what you’ve longed to do these past two years—travel! Be a carefree tourist again!—and make an easy and meaningful contribution to Reconciliation just by taking a trip?

That’s the value proposition Indigeno Travel, Canada’s first Indigenous-owned full-service national travel agency, is hoping conscientious travellers of every kind—business and leisure, Indigenous and non-Indigenous—will find impossible to resist as they emerge from their COVID cocoons and welcome an opportunity to reduce Canada’s deepest historic disparity simply by travelling.

“When you travel with Indigeno, you’re helping us grow what we believe is destined to become an iconic success story in the emerging Indigenous economy,” says Chris Maxfield, Co-founder and VP of Business Development.

“The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has challenged Canadians to make economic Reconciliation an integral part of the national healing process,” notes Indigeno Board Director Jessica Dumas, the first Indigenous woman to have chaired the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. “Canadians want to do the right thing. Indigeno helps them fulfil that commitment, whether by booking a family vacation, arranging accommodations for a large institutional event or handling the complex travel requirements of a corporation or government.”

© PHILIP WU

Headquartered on Treaty One territory in Winnipeg, Indigeno Travel is powered by an operational partnership with two of Canada’s leading independent travel firms: Great Canadian Travel Group—a multi-awardwinning Mecca for leisure travellers—and Continental Travel Group, a stalwart provider of corporate travel.

The result is Indigeno Travel operates at the scale, capacity and expertise of one of Canada’s largest full-service travel agencies. Indigeno President and CEO Phil Sproul has been there, done that many times over, having helmed some of North America’s largest travel brands for more than three decades.

In addition to helping you book that Paris-in-springtime getaway, Indigeno is your natural go-to agency for the world’s most exciting array of Indigenous tourism experiences.

“As the lead organization tasked with growing the Indigenous tourism industry across Canada,” says Keith Henry, President and CEO of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, “we are proud to be working with an Indigenous travel agency to promote and commercialize some 1,800 Indigenous tourism experiences across the country. Despite the pandemic’s devastating impacts, ITAC is working hand in hand with Indigeno to ensure a path to recovery for the providers of these tourism experiences.”

Reinvigorating Canada’s Indigenous tourism sector is also a priority for Indigeno’s newest equity partner, the Treaty One Development Corporation (T1DC).

“Travel is about to come back in a big way,” says T1DC spokesperson Chief Dennis Meeches. “Indigeno offers a choice for Canadians of goodwill towards Indigenous people.”

It’s an emotional moment for Chris Maxfield.

“When the late Darrell Phillips, or Little Black Bear as he was traditionally known, and I first conceived of Indigeno Travel,” Chris says, “we dreamed of a way for all Canadians to take part in Reconciliation simply by doing what they already love to do—travel. Canadians have never yearned to travel more than they do now, and the thirst for Reconciliation has never been stronger. We are all just raring to go!”

Making your next trip an Indigeno experience—and voting with your dollars for Reconciliation—is as easy as visiting their website at indigenotravel.com to “explore the possibilities.”

EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES.

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leisure | corporate | indigenous tourism