Mission Statement

"To work together to build the value of tourism to all the beautiful and diverse countries of Europe through, in particular, cooperating in areas of sharing best practices, market intelligence and promotion".

Objectives
The main objectives of the European Travel Commission are to:

1. Promote Europe as an attractive tourist destination;
2. Assist member NTOs to exchange knowledge and work collaboratively;
3. Provide industry partners and other interested parties with easy access to material & statistics regarding inbound tourism to Europe.

Activities & Events

Originally established in 1948, ETC has been promoting Europe internationally for over 60 years, and currently undertakes the following activities:

• Public relations
• Consumer advertising in selected overseas markets
• Trade Promotions
• Market Research
• Professional development for members (seminars, information exchange)
• Liaison with other relevant agencies (e.g; the European Commission's Tourism Unit (DG Enterprise), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation & Development (OECD)

These activities are financed entirely by Members' contributions, calculated according to a set of pre-agreed criteria.  Additional financial support for specific campaigns is raised in source markets from industry partners.  As a result of this local industry support, the ETC is able to lever its core marketing budget from €1 million to over €4 million annually. 

Click here to download the 2008 ETC Annual Report 

Structure

As illustrated in the chart below, the organisation of the ETC comprises:

• A Board of Directors (President, three Vice-Presidents, Board Members, the Chairs of the Research Group and New Media Groups, and Operations Group representatives;
• An Executive Unit comprising an Executive Director, a person responsible for Media & Market Research, and an Administrative Assistant;
• Four Operations Groups:
  
  • US Operations Group
  • Canada Operations Group
  • Japan Operations Group
  • Latin America Operations Group
• Two Working Groups:
  Market Intelligence Group
  Marketing & Technology Network 

Membership in the Operations Groups is drawn from personnel serving in the overseas offices of the member NTOs.  These representatives elect a Chairperson for each group, decide on a programme of joint activities, propose a budget and seek industry support.  The allocation of ETC funds between operations groups is decided by the ETC Board of Directors.  Depending on its budget, each Operations Group may hire the services of a local marketing agency.