BRUSSELS / TORONTO — Tourism Ireland’s Sandra Moffatt and Visit Flanders’ Marco Frank are taking on the leadership of the European Travel Commission’s Canada Chapter.

Their commitment to ETC operations for the past years earned them the support of ETC members to lead the promotion of Destination Europe in Canada in the upcoming two years.

Moffatt, who is Market Manager for Canada at Tourism Ireland, has been appointed as the new Chair of ETC’s Canada chapter.

Frank, who is Trade & Partnerships Manager at Visit Flanders, has been appointed Vice Chair.

They take over the Canada chapter Chairmanship from Pascal Prinz, Director Canada at Switzerland Tourism, who coordinated the association’s operations in the market for the past two years. They will lead ETC’s activities to enhance Canadian travel to Europe post-COVID-19 and strengthen the cooperation between the Canadian and the European tourism industry.

Moffatt has more than 12 years of experience in travel and tourism strategy in international markets, and has served as Market Manager for Canada with Tourism Ireland for the past two years, leading advertising, media, partnerships, and publicity initiatives to restore visitor growth from Canada to Ireland. Prior to this, she held the position of trade and business partnerships executive within Tourism Ireland, working with carriers, agencies, and operator partners to drive demand for both business and leisure travel. She has also led a variety of tourism and technology programs in Centennial College in Toronto.

“Travel and tourism is a huge contributor to the global economy and European GDP,” says Moffatt. “After a difficult couple of years in our industry, I am thrilled with this appointment. I look forward to working together with my colleagues and partners to rebuild the demand from Canada. A renewed focus on sustainability is also increasingly important, and Europe could not be better positioned to address this as we enter this next phase of tourism recovery.”

Meanwhile at Visit Flanders, in his role as Trade & Partnerships Manager, North America, Frank is in charge of marketing, promoting and selling Flanders-Belgium through the travel trade network in North America. He also works closely with the North American travel trade press, tour operators and travel agencies, and has 20+ years of experience in and around travel, media and technology companies. Frank has also been the Vice Chair of ETC’s US Chapter for over four years.

“Travel creates lasting physical and emotional relationships among people, places, and events that will make the world a better place,” says Frank.

Canadian travel to Europe has been recovering steadily as the pandemic fades. In 2019, 6.7 million Canadian travellers visited Europe, accounting for almost one-fifth (17.2%) of all Canadian outbound travel. In 2021, Canadian arrivals were still down 80% from pre-pandemic levels, while the latest data for 2022 shows a 41% decline in arrivals from 2019.

A total of 4.4 million Canadians are expected to arrive in Europe over the year, ranking it as the third largest long-haul source market for European destinations. Total arrivals are foreseen to reach up to 97% of pre-pandemic levels by 2025.