Indigenous tourism organization names CEO

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This article was published 11/02/2022 (1564 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prominent North End figure Kyle Mason has been named the new chief executive officer of the Manitoba Indigenous Tourism Association. Mason brings a wide range of experience from starting a consulting business; launching a city-wide food bank in Dryden, Ont.; and fundraising for numerous social causes, notably in the North End, where he grew up.

Mason will be responsible for leading the charge to grow Indigenous tourism in Manitoba by developing market-ready tourism products. It’s a challenge Mason said he’s ready to tackle.

“I’m extremely excited for this opportunity,” he said. “I’m really, really looking forward to, with our partners, building an organization that will really build the interest in businesses around the province and will encourage people from Manitoba and beyond to come and experience what Manitoba has to offer, when it’s safe to do so.”

Mason commended the work of Travel Manitoba, but said that it’s necessary to have this separate organization focused solely on supporting Indigenous tourism.

“On of the things that drew me to this position is that I will be able to work with our Indigenous owners and entrepreneurs around the province to show our different cultures, our different languages, our different stories, our different traditions or ceremonies — to show everybody near and far who we are, what makes our cultures unique, what makes our cultures beautiful,” Mason said.

The benefits to bolstering Indigenous tourism are manyfold, he said. Strong tourism can bring an influx of money, which strengthens not only businesses in the industry but can also increase cashflow through a local economy.

But Mason keeps an eye toward something even more ambitious: truth and reconciliation.

“Not only will I be able to work with and empower local business owners to help them strengthen their businesses, allow them to be job creators in their home communities, which will also have the benefit of helping to keep our stories, our traditions, our ceremonies, our languages alive and thriving,” Mason said, “but on the other side, having people come and interact with our cultures helps to build reconciliation, helps to build bridges, helps to build deeper understanding in both directions.”

Mason summed up his point succinctly: “You can’t have true reconciliation, you can’t have connections, if you don’t have true interactions.”

Winnipeg Foundation CEO Sky Bridges weighed in on Mason’s appointment to the position.

“I’m very excited about what this means for continuing to build the Indigenous tourism industry in Manitoba,” said Bridges, who has been watching Mason’s work in Winnipeg from afar. “He brings a breadth of experience and the entrepreneurial spirit that we need to build this industry.”

Bridges said an Indigenous-led organization is needed to create an authentic and self-determined Indigneous tourism industry, and that doing so will not only strengthen Indigenous cultures and communities but also the province as a whole.

“Every single culture, in my mind, has something very beautiful and unique to share with the rest of the world. For Indigenous people, our view of how we have to live in balance with Mother Earth, the animals, with each other is such a needed point of view in the world right now… this is greater than tourism. This is about Indigenous people having the opportunity to share the very best of their culture with everybody else, which we all have the benefit of learning from.”