Tourists pay thousands for their last chance at a Canadian polar bear sighting

Churchill, Manitoba, is 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg, and it has gone through some rough times.

In 1997, the Liberal government sold the rail port in Churchill to an American company. In 2012, the Conservative government ended the Wheat Board, so farmers began to ship their wheat out of Thunder Bay or Vancouver instead. Soon the ships stopped coming to Churchill.

The naval base left town in 1968, the radar installation was abandoned in the 1970's, and the rocket range was boarded up in 1985. That meant 4,000 Canadian Forces personnel left town. So Churchill, population 900, had to reinvent itself. It turned to tourism.

Polar bears were plentiful, as Churchill is situated on the migratory path of the bears as they wait for the winter ice to form on Hudson's Bay. So a local mechanic built a souped-up, elevated recreational vehicle with big, fat tires that could traverse the snow, and take tourists to see the polar bears.

The town positioned itself as the "polar bear capital of the world." Photos, documentaries and marketing campaigns attracted thousands of tourists, who spend from $3,000 to $8,000 each to have a close encounter with the magnificent white bears.

Today, there are many different kinds of polar bear tours you can choose from. The most exclusive includes staying in the heart of polar bear country in tundra vehicles with sleeping cars. Another option is to stay in wilderness lodges, where you are taken on walking tours, along with armed guards, in case the polar bears get a little too curious. European tourism companies package tours to Canada, offering "Arctic Safaris." Prices can be as high as $25,000 per person.

Polar bear tourism is said to generate around $7 million in economic activity for the inhabitants of Churchill, Manitoba. But a lot has changed in that area over the years.

University of Manitoba scientists published a paper saying the polar bear population near Churchill is in trouble. The sea ice in Hudson's Bay is receding due to climate change. The bears use it to hunt for seals, but as ice diminishes year by year, they go hungrier. And as the oil and gas industry continues to eye the Arctic, there is the risk of habitat destruction. Many bears don't eat enough to maintain normal pregnancies. The polar bear population has dropped by more than 27 per cent between 2016 and 2021, and is half of what it was in the 1980's.

By 2050, some conservation scientists say the expanding length of time with no ice could mean a dire time for polar bears. This is fuelling the demand for tourism because polar bear watching is being marketed as "Last Chance Tourism."

Last Chance Tourism goes beyond polar bears. Companies around the world have started to advertise specific destinations to travellers, because those locations have a very unique offering. Namely, they are vanishing, and this may be tourists' last chance to visit them.

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