Norrth's landscape ideal for outfitters. (Young Entrepreneurs).

A secluded tourist enclave on a pristine lake. Abundant wildlife. And all within the City of Greater Sudbury limits. Jenny Martindale and Jim Little, owners and operators of Sundog Outfitters, are banking on this combination to draw customers to their ecotourism business.

Sundog Outfitters offers four-season sustainable wilderness experiences guided canoe trips, snowshoeing, winter camping - in the Sudbury area. Overnight guests can be accommodated in eco-tents, canvas and wood tents erected on the couple's 144-acre property on Simmons Lake in Dowling.

Martindale and Little purchased the undeveloped land in March of 2001 to use as a base camp for their wilderness outfitting operations, says Little.

Sundog Outfitters uses non-consumptive modes of travel on all of its expeditions, he says. "Canoeing and snowshoeing don't take anything but human power to operate," Little says.

Little, a civil engineer, and Martindale, a geological engineer, have essentially turned a hobby into a business. Before guiding ecotours for a living, "every, vacation that Jenny and I would take was a canoe trip or something of that nature," Little says.

While this is a new venture for them, Little does have a business background. He was an engineering consultant before the Sundog startup. Martindale has a diploma in ecotourism management in addition to her engineering training.

"We see ecotourism as a growing market in the Sudbury region," Little says. We quickly realized the potential here by joining a group called PEAT (Partners in Eco-Adventure Tourism)."

Forty-three businesses and organizations have banded together "to cooperatively market their businesses under the PEAT banner," says Little.

He adds there is room for everyone in the tourism industry in Northern Ontario. For example, a partnership Could be formed between his business and a bed and breakfast, he says, each ouffering something the other does not.

Sundog has been a registered business since 1999, but this past summer was their first full season in operation, Little explains.

The couple is not aiming specifically at the hard-core ecotourism market. heir programs are for people of all ages a and experience levels.

The couple plans to offer camping experiences and snowshoe expeditions this winter, Little says, but prices and dates have yet to be firmed up. He expects bookings to start coming in once the snow arrives.

Where are Sundog's clients coming from? As Little puts it, "a smattering of everywhere," but the majority are from southern Ontario's Golden Horseshoe.

Sundog would like to go after the growing European market, Little says, "but it's costly and hard to do." Competition from other ecotourism businesses is one obstacle, he says, and the fact that "you don't physically get over there to market your business" is another.

Little says Sundog's Web site has been helpful in attracting bookings, and he and Martindale, plan to rely on it more in the coming year to advertise their business.

The couple have used a trial-and-error approach to find the most effective advertising strategies, says Little. Last year they went to two major trade shows, but found it a very expensive way to generate business.

They also created a costly brochure. In the coming year, Little hopes to use small magazine ads and a scaled-down version of the brochure to attract prospective clients to Sundog's Web site.