The recent work of Tourism and Culture Minister Elaine Taylor in Germany will have long-term positive impacts on the territory's tourism industry, says Patti Balsillie, chief executive officer of the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon.

'This work is going to translate way into the future,' she told the Star today.

Taylor recently returned from meetings in Europe, where she met with airlines and tour operators to promote the Yukon as a winter travel destination.

Discussions with Condor Airlines have resulted in an extended operating season for 2006, which will see flights coming in from Frankfurt, Germany, from May 9 to Oct. 3.

There also still remains the possibility that there may be an additional flight added to their schedule that currently sees planes fly into Whitehorse twice a week.

'We view this as a tremendous opportunity for us to expand on our efforts,' said Sten Linde, the Whitehorse CanaDream station manager.

'We are willing to partner with other Yukon businesses that will be open for these early and late flights and put together something for our customers to give them a full vacation.'

The announcement will provide the territory's tour operators with the opportunity to begin to prepare for the incoming market, said Balsillie. An extended season means that operators will have to look at extending their weeks of operation, their hours and contemplate added costs and profit, she said.

'It's an excellent opportunity.'

A meeting with Air Canada officials in Germany has also seen the establishment of a marketing campaign for 650,000 German newspaper advertisements a week over a five-week period.

The $100,000-campaign will begin in about a month's time and is funded by Tourism Yukon, Air Canada and German tour operators. The promotion will focus on winter travel options in the Yukon and will also provide information on fly-drive tour packages.

Thomas Cook, a major tourism wholesaler, will also be featuring the Yukon in its brochures as a winter destination for the first time.

The wholesaler has 3,500 travel agencies in Canada and 11,000 throughout the world.

Taylor said the brochure looks impressive, and includes opportunities to go dog sledding, snowshoeing and Northern Lights viewing. Also, it will only be the Yukon that will be promoted Alaska is not included as a winter destination.

The 'big names' behind the new winter marketing campaign will bring credibility to the Yukon as a four-season, full-service, high-quality destination, said Balsillie.

A tourism survey conducted from June to September 2004 found that approximately nine per cent of the visitors to the territory were from international destinations, not including the United States.

However, European visitors have more than doubled over the last two years, with more than 4,500 Europeans arriving in the territory in 2004, accounting for almost 18 per cent of the tourism spending in the Yukon.

There is a growing interest internationally in the Yukon as a travel destination, added Balsillie.

'The North and the Yukon have the lure of the wilderness,' she said. 'There is a market of people out there that want these kinds of activities.'

Providing this type of expansion is important in preparing for the 2007 Canada Winter Games, which will bring thousands of people to the territory before, during and after the event, she said.

Tourism operators need to have the opportunity to prepare and extend the products they offer. This will provide them with the 'need to know' that a viable market will be coming into the territory, Balsillie said.

The results of the European visit are something the government has been working toward for a while, said Taylor.

'It took about two or three years, but it is now starting to take hold,' said Taylor.

The Yukon has been a prominent summer destination, but it is encouraging to see it now taking off as a winter product, she said.

'We have come up with very distinct winter packages.'

Familiarization tours for the German wholesalers will be occurring in the territory in December and travel agents specializing in Canadian destinations are also expected to visit the Yukon soon.

'It shows they certainly see the promise in the Yukon,' added Taylor.