ETC, CATO unlock an unexpected upgrade for travel advisors

The European Travel Commission (ETC) and the Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO) teamed up once again to offer travel advisors a different look at what Europe has to offer their clients.

And that different look started with the venue – the funky Hotel Ocho in downtown Toronto this week – where representatives from seven European tourist boards – Tourism Ireland, Visit Flanders, the Tourist Office of Spain, ENIT Italy, Czech Tourism, Switzerland Tourism and Tourism Portugal – and eight tour companies – Goway, Collette, Globus, Royal Irish Tours, The Travel Corporation, Intrepid, G Adventures and Railbookers – were on hand to welcome about 90 travel advisors and encourage those advisors to look at Europe as a destination they can offer to their clients all year round.

Sandra Moffatt, the ETC’s Canadian Chair (and Tourism Ireland’s Market Manager, Canada), explained that the event was tapping into the ETC’s newly launched campaign – “Unlock an unexpected upgrade” – and its four pillars that encouraged Canadians (an travellers around the world) to travel to Europe in every season of the year and when they do to go, they should get off the beaten track, discovering and supporting local communities and the authentic experiences they offer visitors and to do it all sustainably.

For CATO Chair (and General Manager International Operations for Collette), Brett Walker, it’s pretty clear that the ETC’s 2025 campaign dovetails nicely with what Canadian travellers are looking for, noting that the trend is for smaller, more curated tours that take travellers deeper into a destination.

And with the current state of affairs between Canada and the U.S., both Moffatt and Walker see an opportunity.

“I think we’ve already seen the impact of it,” Moffatt told Travel Press Today (TPT), “People are pivoting to look towards Europe at the moment in response to everything that’s happening south of the border.”

To back up her point, she pointed out that 7.6 million Canadian visited Europe last year and that trend is continuing in 2025, leading her to observe: “So, I do think people are looking to Europe.”

And Walker added: “I don’t think that trend is going to be temporary, so, we’re going to see that trend for some time,” noting that with Europe, “there’s just no uncertainty.”

As for why Canadians should travel to Europe all year round, Moffatt pointed out that “there’s something in Europe every month of the year,” and in every destination.

There are other reasons as well, including the fact that Europe has a more moderate climate than Canada; as well as that Europe has strong ground-air access making it easy to visit any time of the year.

And at the Toronto event, the ETC, CATO and their tourist board and tour operator partners gave advisors a taste of what Europe was all about with Whiskey and oyster tastings; Beer and chocolate sampling; a Lindt Master Chocolatier; a bead-making workshop; live Flamenco dancers and a Fado performance; and lots of animated network.

All in all, the ETC and CATO delivered their message – a message that appears to be slowly, but surely catching on.