ETOA
Group Tourism
Working Group

Working groups provide opportunity for ETOA’s members and partners to cooperate on issues to do with the business environment for tourism in Europe. They are topic or destination focused. Activities can range from in-person meetings to ad hoc consultation and information sharing. Their composition is not fixed and expressions of interest are welcome. We try to ensure access to insight from various business models and origin markets, and specialist expertise where applicable.

Group tourism is the core business of many of ETOA’s operator members, and it remains poorly understood. Coach tourism is under-appreciated as a low-emission form of collective transport which is capable of bringing visitor spend to all parts of Europe. This group acts as a reality-check for the in-house team to ensure we’re focusing on what affects members the most, and prioritising correctly. Even if we can’t change the situation, we can provide accurate, actionable information. It may also identify what activity needs more focused effort, and provide feedback on ETOA’s online resources, especially Operating in Europe.

Members shared their perspectives from the past season. Topics included:

• General comparison with 2023 in terms of cost increases and supplier availability
• Displacement effect of Paris 2024
• Impact on UK inbound due to issues with ferries’ availability
• Newly recruited staff in the sector (i.e. new coach drivers) impacting quality of the service
• Attractions’ availability and process causing last minute problems and driving product development
• Potential for seasonal changes in destination preference and opening hours
• Potential impact of and implementation challenges with Edinburgh tourist tax