Members of ETC Canada
The following European NTOs, with offices either in Canada
The ETC Canada team
or the United States, are members of ETC Canada:
Chair:
Canada: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece,
Alison Metcalfe, Ireland
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Vice-chair:
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Wally Haupt, Austria
United States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Iceland,
Secretary/treasurer:
Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Poland and Slovenia.
Milo Vassallo, Malta
Alison Metcalfe
Consultant:
John Stephenson,
Motivations International Inc.
The Canadian Economy and Outbound Travel
Activities in 2004
Trade promotion
2004 Overview
ETC Canada held a series of Travel Europe agent seminars in
· Rebound in the Canadian economy following the impact of SARS
Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver in February.
These well-attended breakfast and dinner events involved both
· Real disposable income and consumer spending grew
NTO and travel industry partners.
· High consumer confidence
· Record employment growth
· Low interest rates
· Stronger Canadian dollar
· All major economic indicators for outbound travel were positive
· The number of Canadians visiting Europe rose from 3.1 million
in 2003 to an estimated 3.6 million.
2005 Outlook
· Despite the impact of the tsunami on travel to Asia, outbound
travel from Canada is expected to be strong in 2005. Overall,
the economy remains positive for growth in outbound travel.
A Travel Europe agent seminar
· Growth in travel will be supported by solid
economic growth in Canada. GDP is forecast
to grow by 3.2%.
· Strong disposable income growth of 2.5%
is forecast.
· Interest rates remain low and the Canadian
dollar is at a twelve-year high.
· The consumer confidence index remains high.