In 2024, Indigenous tourism became a $44 billion industry. By 2034, it is only expected to increase to $67 billion over the next decade. That is about a third of New York City’s tourism revenue. This exceptional growth may be partly due to tourists’ rising desire to have unique, “authentic” experiences of local cultures.

The Yurok Tribe is one of many that have hopped on the indigenous-led tourism wave. Located in Redwood, California, they are the only tourist operators able to offer redwood canoe tours.  The Inuit have also taken advantage of tourists’ interest in their culture by hosting guided interpretive hikes, arctic explorations, igloo-building workshops, and teaching traditional Inuit games. The Sámi however,  still need to overcome the long history of exploitation of Sámi culture from non-Sámi to pave their own path in the tourism industry. 

What is Indigenous-led Tourism?

 After the pandemic, there has been a growing desire of tourists to travel sustainably, while also getting meaningful experiences in a culture that differs from their own. They desire to go beyond a surface level understanding of the local people, culture and location while also lessening their impact on the environment. Indigenous-led tourism fits all parameters. 

Indigenous-led tourism is destination travel operations led by indigenous groups on their own terms. These attractions allow the indigenous people to sustain and promote their traditions and values.  

 The approach of Indigenous-led tourism varies between different tribes. 

 The Yurok use indigenous tourism to share their culture, traditions and stories to tourists and to their younger generations.. A Yurok cultural bearer, Hop Norris, spoke on the tribe’s effort to revitalize Yurok culture through the practice of creating redwood canoes, stating “this is all very new to us as well. You know, it’s something that’s a lost art and … a lost part of our culture being currently revived.” In the same interview, David Eric Severns, one of the Yurok’s youngest canoe builders, describes the relationship the Yurok have with the Redwood trees.  He describes them as living beings, which requires the respect you would give a family member. This perspective shapes the practice of crafting the canoes with precision and a respectful mindset.

In the Inuit’s case, the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) defines indigenous tourism as a business that is majority owned by Inuit peoples.  The business also needs to show both a responsibility and a connection to the Inuit community and Inuit traditional territory. This includes the additional category of cultural indigenous tourism, which requires there to be active participation of the Inuit in the development and operation of the experience. 

The Sámi define Sámi tourism similarly, defining it as tourism where the resources of the Sámi (culture, environment etc.) are used to create tourism services and activities  that are offered to the non-Sámi people for commercial gain. Also implicit in this definition, the tourism service operators of Sámi tourism come from the Sámi community.

Why is indigenous-led tourism important?

Indigenous-led tourism creates an opportunity for indigenous groups around the world to alleviate poverty by generating income, protecting their natural resources, and conserving their cultural heritage.

 Indigenous-led tourism is a form of empowerment for indigenous groups.The FSC Indigenous Foundation and? The White House Council on Native American Affairs (WHCNAA) held a webinar in 2022 about indigenous tourism’s benefits for Native Americans. In the webinar, Denise Litz, member of the Tuscarora Nation and Chief of the Division of Economic Development of the Bureau of Indian Affairs explained that“Indigenous tourism offers communities an opportunity to generate income, alleviate poverty, increase access to healthcare and education, and conserve cultural and natural resources.” 

Indigenous-led tourism, allows indigenous groups to share their stories and culture on their homelands on their own terms. Indigenous groups can gain economic sovereignty through tourism. For example, indigenous-led tourism, when performed sustainably, can strengthen indigenous groups’ self governance abilities and create more self-sufficiency of the groups. Indigenous-led tourism can be a form of reconciliation and rebuilding of identity for indigenous peoples. 

How is indigenous-led tourism different from ecotourism? 

While Indigenous-led tourism has some similar goals to ecotourism environmentally, such as protecting the natural environment, they are distinct. Ecotourism’s main goal is to minimize impacts on the land while  prioritizing conservation.  Indigenous-led goes further, focusing on who leads the tours, is providing the tours, and activities. Indigenous-led tourism works in tandem with the rise of cultural tourism, which focuses on exploring the local history and culture, including food, music and the local people themselves. 

How can you support in indigenous-led tourism?

It is important to support  indigenous-led tourism while avoiding exploitative tourism. In the Sámi’s case, in which non-indigenous tour operators dressed in traditional Sámi clothing and told Sámi’s story for them. To combat this, indigenous groups have begun to find ways to label or clarify their businesses are indigenous owned, or at the very least indigenous-led. 

The best way to engage in indigenous-led tourism is to look for travel experiences that are directly owned by indigenous groups. This is the case with the  Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada.  Its  Original Original program guarantees at least 51% of the tourism business/experience is owned by indigenous peoples. This assures that they are engaging in tourism activities that directly contribute to and consume from indigenous-led tourism.

Nature’s Best Sápmi label is one of the labels currently being used to combat the fake Sámi tourist traps and provide verification of authentic Sámi tourism experiences. Monika Lüthje from the University of Lapland describes how tourists can easily mistake fake Sámi tour operators for the real thing: “They maybe don’t say [that they are Sámi], they just wear that dress and you assume that they are Sámi.” To have this label, the tourist opportunity has to fit the qualifications in the Swedish Sámi Parliament sustainability program, Eallinbiras.

 As an alternative, Indigenous owned businesses also proudly state they are indigenous owned on their websites. This can be not as reliable, as the Canadian Government does not have a law that specifically penalizes false claims indigenous owned businesses.  Arctic Bay Adventures is a vocal indigenous owned tourism business in Canada. They run explorations of the polar north in Nunavut Province. Some activities allow for tourists to experience practices inherent in traditional Inuit culture, such as dog sledding, riding ski-doos to see arctic wildlife such as narwhals and polar bears and ice fishing.

Looking forward, the Canadian and Finland’s governments have a lot more progress to be made in protecting their indigenous people’s within the tourism industry. Although not perfect, the U.S National Park Service has made several agreements that allow for the Yurok tribe to manage their ancestral land, and protect the Yurok tribe from false Yurok Redwood canoe tour operators, because of the strict protections of the Redwoods. Having government support along with a reliable label stamping authenticity of indigenous tourism experiences would be a great step moving forward as Indigenous-led tourism grows.