17 3.5 Accommodation in the Yukon
The Yukon has over 40 hotels and motels, offering all different kinds of accommodations to suit visitors’ needs and preferences. Accommodations in the Yukon can range from hotels, motels, air bnbs, cabins, hostels, campgrounds, or RV parks. Tourists can choose to stay in a hotel located in a city centre or stay in a cabin out in the wilderness to relax, unplug and relish in the quiet time. To make it more accessible, most cultural and wilderness operators in the Yukon offer accommodation as part of their packages.
Spotlight On: Northern Vision Development LP
Northern Vision Development (NVD) owns, manages, and develops a variety of hospitality assets in the Yukon. These assets span the entire spectrum of the accommodation market, and cover much of the territory. Including but not limited to: The Edgewater hotel – a small independent, a mid-size brand affiliated Best Western called the Gold Rush Inn, a boutique hotel known as the Midnight Sun in Dawson City, and the Bedrock Motel and RV Park in Mayo which includes camping options. NVD is proudly over 40% owned by First Nations, and over 70% Yukon owned. For more information, visit the NVD Website.
Spotlight On: The Yukon Hotel
The history of hotels in the Yukon begins during the Klondike Gold Rush and tells the story of the massive changes that Indigenous people witnessed over the course of that time period. In 1895, gold was discovered in the Yukon and people flooded the territory in search of getting rich quick. During the peak of the rush for gold, the Yukon’s first hotel was established in Dawson City and was appropriately named Yukon Hotel. Previously, the building was known as Binet Block and was used for Government Offices. After it was converted into a hotel is served under a variety of names until 1957, and today, the Yukon Hotel is a National Historic Site of Canada and part of the Dawson Historical Complex.
Few other hotels were opened in the early 1900s that are still in operation. Two of these hotels are located in the Yukon’s capital city Whitehorse. One was known as the Windsor Hotel, now known as the Edgewater Hotel, and the second was originally the Regina Hotel, now known as the River View Hotel. Both hotels are located on the banks of the Yukon River, as historically the river was the main source of transportation before roads were built.
Campgrounds in the Yukon
In the Yukon Territory, there are 42 territorial campgrounds on 11 highways, 9 backcountry campgrounds and 12 day-use recreation sites. There are 15 playgrounds and 25 boat launches amongst the campgrounds in the territory. These are managed by the Government of Yukon and are open mid-May to September every year. The Government of Yukon also maintains backcountry campgrounds at Tombstone Territorial Park, Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park, Fort Selkirk and on the Thirty Mile section of the Yukon River which are only accessible by foot, air, or water.
According to the Tourism Yukon 2018 Year-End Report conducted by the Government of Yukon, nearly 61,900 non-residents camped at one of Yukon’s 41 government-maintained campgrounds during 2018. This represented an increase of 11% compared to 2017, and compared to ten years previously, in 2008, the report shows an increase of 70%.
