ETOA is a large travel trade association focused on the European market. Mindful of project KPIs to reach at least 5,000 SMEs and secure at least 250 expressions of interest, ETOA’s size and the breadth of its membership and wider network will help. With over 8,000 qualified European suppliers in its database, a wide audience across social media, and over 100 DMOs and other industry partners who could help multiply communications effort, in addition to the project partners, it is well-placed to ensure the project’s promotional campaign is successful.
Its direct membership model means it has everyday contact with those selling European product worldwide, as well as individual service providers within Europe. During the pandemic, ETOA invested in digital capability in order to deliver online B2B services which, together with its other online resources, has enabled it to maintain active engagement with a wide network of SMEs. It is well placed to target those in a position to benefit from the opportunity presented by this programme and become influential among their peers in market and support its partners throughout this project.
Background
ETOA works with policymakers to enable a fair and sustainable business environment in which European tourism can thrive and grow. With its member-driven community with over 1,200 organisations serving 63 origin markets, it is a powerful voice at local, national and European levels. It plays a central role in the European Tourism Manifesto group, which seeks to build consensus for policy action among Europe’s tourism stakeholders. Our members include destination management organisations (DMOs), tour and online operators, European tourist boards, hotels, attractions, technology companies and other tourism service providers. These range in size from global brands to independent local businesses. We are connected with over 30,000 industry professionals across our social media channels.
ETOA was founded in 1989 as an association for tour operators who sold Europe as a destination in long-haul origin markets. It has evolved since those early days to embrace intra-European and regional operators, online intermediaries, wholesale travel companies and any comercial player who is interested in selling themselves as part of a pan-European product. ETOA offers an unparalleled networking and contracting platform for tourism practitioners, running 8 flagship events across Europe, China and North America that collectively arrange over 50,000 oneon- one appointments every year. ETOA have offices in Brussels and London and representation in Spain, France and Italy.
ETOA’s main activities and project work are summarised below:
- B2B Workshops |Annual series of B2B networking workshops, primarily in support of European SME tourism businesses, 50,000 B2B meetings facilitated in 2020 (ref: https://www.etoa.org/events/).
- EU – Partnerships in European Tourism EASME/COSME 2016 030 2017-19 | Project lead – series of events and publications preparing EU SME tourism businesses for engagement with the Chinese and USA markets. Included: market analysis, statistical analysis, stakeholderengagement, partnership building, event management, development of dissemination materials, reporting.
- Insight Hub including webinar recordings, statistics, opinions and research pieces. Reference: https://www.etoa.org/insight/
- Digital City Visitor Conference (2016-2019) | Event series for which ETOA entirely owned and managed Ref: https://www.etoa.org/city-fair-conference-2019/
- Long-Haul Travel Barometer 2019-Present| The Long-Haul Travel Barometers are a series of infographics that provide forward-looking information about short-term travel trends among potential travellers from Brazil, China, Japan, India, Russia and the US. The infographicsshed light on travellers’ preferences, motivations and barriers related to travelling to and within Europe. Reference: https://etccorporate.org/reports/long-haul-travel-barometer-1-2020