Arctic tourism is an opportunity for Indigenous-led economic development

Indigenous communities are poised to benefit from growing tourism — if it can be developed right.

Leon, Nicaragua is a city known for volcano boarding. Tourists can pay to hike and then board down the youngest volcano in all of Central America. Upon hearing about this thrill-seeking experience, I could not wait to don the orange jumpsuit, goggles, and zip down the black pebbled hill. To my surprise, few companies that offered volcano boarding were run by people from the community. Rather, the tours were run by foreigners from Australia, Canada, and a whole host of other countries.