Leading European travel trade association, ETOA sets up Iberia working group

ETOA is developing its strategy in Portugal and Spain by forming an Iberia working group to develop an actionable strategy to support tourism’s sustainable development.

Made up of ETOA members in the public and private sector, the inaugural meeting to be held today in Madrid coincides with ETOA’s 30th anniversary celebratory drinks in the city, and will include Tumlare, Special Tours, Madrid Destino and Turismo Sevilla and is kindly hosted by Luis García Codrón, President of Europamundo, winner of UNWTO Ethics Award 2018.

Set up in 1989 with a small group of tour operators, ETOA now has 1300 members that span the travel industry supply chain across Europe and who range from SMEs to large household names.

ETOA’s aim is to shape the future for tourism in Europe by connecting, supporting and informing its membership. It boasts one of the largest B2B industry networks and last year it organised 56,634 one-to-one appointments at 10 EOTA workshops held in Europe, the UK, the USA and China.

Active at EU, national and local levels in the interests of tourism, ETOA is at the centre of campaigning for a better regulatory environment for its members.

The Iberia working group will also discuss tourism strategies and travel trends such as growing demand for Halal tourism, particularly in Spain, while promoting intelligent policy development for tourism.

Jorge Traver, ETOA’s representative in Spain said: “ETOA has always worked very closely with members in Spain and Portugal – as it is such a key destination for holidaymakers both from within Europe and long haul markets such as the USA, India, China and the Middle East – so I am delighted that the new ETOA members’ working group in Iberia will strengthen these bonds and enable us to provide a greater level of service to our Spanish and Portuguese members.

“Next year ETOA will again host the Hoteliers European Marketplace (HEM 2020) in the beautiful and historic city of Seville, so we are looking forward to working with the ETOA Iberia working group to ensure it will be the best yet.”