Schedule
Check out the 2026 Schedule below
*Full program including speakers to be posted October 2026.
NWTT 30th Anniversary Party & Welcome REception
Join NWTT on November 3rd at 6:00 PM to celebrate NWT Tourism’s 30th anniversary at The Gold Range !
This special evening also marks the opening day of our Annual AGM & Conference.
This milestone is an opportunity to come together, reconnect with colleagues and friends, share memories from the past three decades, and celebrate the people and partnerships that have helped shape tourism in the Northwest Territories. Enjoy an evening of great food, prizes, and live music from Welder’s Daughter.
Whether you’ve been part of the journey from the beginning or are new to the tourism community, we invite you to help us celebrate 30 years of success and look ahead to an exciting future.
This event is open to past and present NWT Tourism members, industry partners, and friends of the tourism sector.
We look forward to celebrating with you!
2026 Speakers
rIAZ mEGHJI
Keynote Speaker
Riaz Meghji is a human connection expert and bestselling author of Every Conversation Counts: The 5 Habits of Human Connection That Build Extraordinary Relationships. After one conversation led him to take a dramatically different career path that changed his life for the better, Meghji became dedicated to exploring the ways that authentic human connection can change lives and organizations. A natural storyteller, he shows audiences how to create engaged and connected cultures through the power of candid conversation.
Meghji is an accomplished broadcaster with 17 years of television experience, interviewing experts on current affairs, sports, entertainment, politics, and business. He has hosted for Citytv's Breakfast Television, MTV Canada, CTV News, TEDxVancouver, and the Toronto International Film Festival.A respected thought leader on human connection, Meghji is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and moderator with a proven ability to conduct engaging, in-depth conversations across various disciplines. His insights have been featured in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and Financial Post.
Off camera, Meghji dedicates himself to philanthropy and causes he cares about, including Canuck Place Children's Hospice. He holds a degree in business from Simon Fraser University and studied leadership communication at Harvard's Extension School and the Canadian Management Centre.
Kiirsten May & Alex Varricchio
Training Day Facilitators
Helping Travellers Choose Your Experience
Join Kiirsten & Alex, the team behind the recent Travel Manitoba brand refresh, for a practical, interactive workshop designed specifically for tourism operators. Through live industry examples and hands-on activities, participants will explore how today's travellers discover, evaluate, and book tourism experiences while learning actionable strategies to improve their visibility on TripAdvisor, search engines, social media, and AI-powered platforms. The session will also cover building trust through online reputation management, identifying opportunities to enhance existing products and shoulder-season experiences, and making the most of limited marketing time and resources. Participants will leave with a personalized Tourism Visibility Scorecard to help identify their strengths, uncover gaps, and prioritize the highest-impact opportunities for growing their business.
Kiirsten May and Alex Varricchio are the award-winning co-founders and co-owners of UpHouse, a Certified B Corporation and award-winning marketing, public relations, and talent agency helping organizations across North America build brands, launch campaigns, and create meaningful community impact. Their work has earned national and international recognition, including an Effie Award for the Travel Manitoba rebrand, a World Media Awards finalist honour for its launch campaign, and multiple Anthem Awards. They were also finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2025 Prairies Awards.
Together, Alex and Kiirsten are the co-authors of The Proximity Paradox, which explores how familiarity can become one of the biggest barriers to innovation. Through their keynote presentations, they challenge audiences to rethink assumptions, embrace curiosity, and develop fresh approaches to leadership, creativity, and problem-solving.
2026 Community Experiences
NWTT is excited to provide delegates with the opportunity to participate in community experiences from 2:30-4:30 pm on Thursday, November 6. There is no cost to participants; this is an opportunity for conference delegates to enjoy the host community and network with local operators and businesses.
Medicine Walk with Ever Good Medicine
Spill the Tea: Denendeh Steeped in Medicine is an immersive medicine walk that invites participants to discover the traditional plants and medicines of Denendeh through Indigenous knowledge, storytelling, and hands-on learning. Guided by Ever Good Medicine, each participant receives a beautifully designed medicine book to deepen their understanding and serve as a lasting resource long after the experience ends.
Caribou Tufting with Saht’ea Adze Beadwork
Join Amanda Baton of Saht'ea Adze Beadwork for a beginner-friendly tufting workshop that introduces the traditional art of tufting, its origins, and the cultural teachings woven into the practice. Through this hands-on experience, participants will connect with community while creating their own broach, learning about the respectful harvesting and honouring of animals, and experiencing authentic knowledge sharing passed down through generations..
