b'INDIGENOUS TOURISMWere constantly vetting busi-nesses to participate in [the website], Eshkawkogan says. What its going to lead to is consumers being able to purchase experiences right on that site.Eshkawkogan says ITO is also launching the second version of the Indigenous Business Advisor (IBA) Program to help business operators navi-gate the tourism industry.During the pandemic, the main focus was, How do we figure out all of these different government programsManitoulin Hotel & Conference Centre, located on the North Channel of Lake Huron. Photos courtesy of ITAC.and all this other stuff, just to survive? Eshkawkogan says. Now were at theWere very strategically attemptingITO is also working on virtual point where IBAs are helping operatorsto get more Indigenous people involvedreality experiences with Indigenous identify needs within their businesses toin the tourism industry, Eshkawkogantourism operators. Weve got a revive themselves, rejuvenate themselvessays. Were first and foremost supportingrevenue model thats now working and then propel themselves into a reallyemployees or potential employees to givefor them, with 50-60 per cent of the great position. them proper trainingso theyre reallyrevenue of those new experiences Eshkawkogan says ITO is alsostrong candidates for a lot of the tourismgoing directly to tourism oper-working in partnership with the Ontariojobs that are out there. The skill sets weators, Eshkawkogan explains. We Tourism Education Corporationare providing to potential employees arecreated that model for one reason: (OTEC) and the Tourism Industryvaluable skill sets that are going to benefitto help diversify revenue streams for Association of Ontario (TIAO) onthem in the long run. But on top of that,Indigenous tourism operators, and A Three Fires Collaborative Quest,were not just training peoplewerewhat triggered that, obviously, was the which will help Indigenous employeesworking with business operators, bothglobal pandemic. We needed to help identify job opportunities within theIndigenous and non-Indigenous, to hireour operators figure out other ways to tourism industry. these individuals. make money.42l I ssue2 2021/22C hIefs ofo ntarIoA dvocAte magazIne'