For two years, the city and territory have been joining forces to bring and welcome visitors to the region.

Those efforts will continue for another two years.

That became clear Tuesday afternoon after Mayor Dan Curtis and Tourism and Culture Minister Elaine Taylor signed off on a renewed partnership agreement between the two governments.

The agreement covers off sport tourism, providing travel advice to visitors, the distribution of parking passes and pins to visitors, co-ordinating tourism banners around the city and working on a number of tourism initiatives highlighted in the city’s economic development strategy.

There are also plans to improve the promotion of local events with the use of Tourism Yukon marketing tools such as its website.

“It’s a sharing of resources,” Taylor said at the signing.

She and Curtis highlighted the benefits of working together in tourism rather than duplicating services or even competing for tourism dollars.

Rather, for the past two years, the agreement between the city and territory has made for a more cohesive approach to tourism, Curtis said.

For visitors, the partnership means when they come into city hall or Yukon government buildings, they are all directed to the Visitor Reception Centre downtown.

Previously, visitors were directed to either the city’s former tourism building near LePage Park for city information and services or the Visitor Reception Centre for Yukon information and services.

Taylor and Curtis noted there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that is co-ordinated between the city and territory around banners and efforts made for major events and so on.

“It’s a great working relationship,” Curtis said.

Since the initial deal was signed two years ago, many resources have been freed up, he said.

That has allowed the city to focus its tourism attention on signature events like the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Festival, Yukon Quest sled-dog race and the Yukon River Quest.

The mayor went on to note that it makes sense for the city and territory to partner.

As he pointed out, whenever someone travelling to other parts of the territory arrive in the Yukon, almost all inevitably come to the capital city first.

“We look at the Yukon as a whole,” he said, going on to praise Taylor for a number of tourism initiatives she put forward at a meeting between city and territorial officials prior to the signing of the agreement.

Neither the mayor nor the minister would say what some of those ideas are, noting they will first be presented to cabinet and city council.

Curtis said he expects it won’t be long before announcements are made as staff get to work on pursuing some of the ideas.

Government and city representatives plan to meet throughout the year.

“We are pleased to continue to collaborate with the City of Whitehorse in our efforts to promote Yukon as a destination and in offering outstanding visitor services to travellers in Whitehorse,” Taylor said.

“By working together, we can continue providing top-quality visitor services while exploring new joint tourism opportunities.”

“This partnership agreement between the city and the Yukon government demonstrates how we are working in conjunction on tourism initiatives,” Curtis said.

“It allows our governments to focus on our strengths, with the city supporting large events in Whitehorse and the Yukon government delivering brilliant tourism marketing campaigns for the entire Yukon.”