Ricky Mawunganidze said the ferry that is used to access the border from the Canadian side began operating Thursday and the highway has been cleared of snow, which means people will be able to access the border when it reopens on June 1.
Located on the Top of the World Highway, the border crossing separates Yukon from Alaska. It's the main tourist route for those visiting Dawson City, the small mining and tourism town along the Yukon River, about 533 kilometres north of Whitehorse. "This year is going to be a Moosehide Gathering year, which is the traditional gathering forTr'ondek Hwech'in, which hasn't been able to happen for the past few years," he said. "A lot of their Alaskan family will be coming over for that in July, so the border opening is critical to that continuation of culture and history."
"This year needs to be about uninterrupted operation so that we build back confidence in working in this industry. There's more desire this year to extend our season as far as we can." Pillai said another new tourism revenue stream comes in the form of direct flights that are now being offered between Whitehorse and Toronto. The first flight took off May 10.