News / Events

The “Canadian effect”: Exoticca celebrates 50% growth, crowns top advisors

Jesse Ship

09-15-2026 10:30 am

Jesse Ship

Jesse Ship is a Toronto-born, Paris-raised, Belgian national and freelance writer with a passion for arts, travel, music and culture. His work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Fodor’s Travel, Flight Centre, Metro, BlogTO, Vice, Exclaim, Antenna, CBC, and many others.

Canada is the jewel in Exoticca’s crown.

The lobby of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto was buzzing with TIFF 2026 energy, but the real celebrities were in the ballroom for Exoticca’s Fall Fling road show and first-ever awards ceremony Monday night (Sept. 14).

Over 300 travel partners and advisors were in attendance, roughly half of the year prior, but this was an intentional move to create a more intimate and exclusive atmosphere, according to the Exoticca team.

From left: Stuart Morcombe, TDC; Sandra Wesson, TDC and travel partners. (Misha von Shlezinger)

The Canadian effect

The tour operator is experiencing massive growth in Canada, showing a 50 per cent expansion rate in 2026 with 40 per cent of all Canadian sales being advisor driven.

Canada is also Exoticca’s most developed market, with the company’s largest global advisor network and highest market penetration rate.

Exoticca has a lot of fans. (Misha von Shlezinger)

“Together with direct sales and B2C, the amount of registered and silent advisors is the biggest we have in the world,” said Juanjo Duran, Exoticca’s chief officer of product and marketing.

“Also, the Canadian business is only 2.5 times smaller than the U.S., when it should be one tenth. Our Canadian business is really the jewel of our crown.”

The operator looks to Canada’s success in the last three years as a business model that is being replicated in Spain, Mexico, Columbia and the UK. And the U.S. may be next.

“We are using the Canadian effect as a business model with the best possible talent managing B2B. We are prioritizing Canada with your technological developments, combined with building a very strong global brand, using TV advertising.”

Juanjo Duran, Exoticca’s chief of marketing and product. (Misha von Shlezinger)

Ease of sales

“We see our growth mostly through repeat business,” said Mareike Pfennig, VP of growth and B2B at Exoticca.

“Basically, advisors that have booked once or twice in the past continue coming back to us with their customers because they really like the experience. And this group makes up 70 per cent. They see it’s really easy to sell Exoticca.”

Advisors fill a ballroom at the Fairmont Royal York. (Misha von Shlezinger)

Trade wars

Much of tourism has experienced the same two slowdowns: tariff wars with the U.S. and the war in the Middle East.

Exoticca touched on the trends.

“We’re seeing the tariffs are affecting our U.S. business much more than in Canada. Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has dropped a lot because of increasing prices due to inflation,” said Pfennig.

Quebec = Exoticca’s rising star

The Quebec market is Exoticca’s true rising star after just two years in market, with business already doubling and a new French website is bound to reap more benefits and increase awareness.

“We are seeing huge growth there,” said Pfennig. “This is a key region for us.”

From left (of Exoticca): Desirée Rolle, director of sales, Western Ontario & Atlantic Canada; Mareike Pfennig, VP of growth & B2B; Diana Winters, VP of sales. (Misha von Shlezinger)

Sun destinations are not they key drivers for the market. “Europe represents close to 40 per cent of our sales,” said Duran. “Not necessarily traditional Europe, but obviously Italy is our number one seller, as well as Portugal. But beyond Greece and France, Albania for example is now super popular.”

All of Asia is trending as well, particularly Japan. “Japan has opened up tourism a lot. China has become very popular and we’re increasing our portfolio there. But also, Peru and Ecuador.”

Living up to their name

Exoticca continues to push into new and more adventurous markets in over 80 countries with over 300 curated itineraries. Ground is being broken in Nepal, Tibet, and Uzbekistan. The operator is actively looking into suppliers in emerging African markets like Mozambique, Angola, and Gabon.

“Admittedly our business is very simple in the way we generate new users and the way we relate with advisors,” said Duran. “The ones that we give more visibility inevitably become our top sellers.”

Travel advisors on the scene with Exoticca. (Pax Global Media)

The Exoticca clientele

“Our customers are not the young adventure seekers looking for some very rare destinations,” said Pfennig. “Puglia, Italy has grown a lot but we are seeing more niche sites in known destinations are what’s increasing.”

For example, their latest successful Chinese product is a tour of the quartz sandstone “Avatar” Hallelujah Mountain in Hunan province, featured in James Cameron’s blockbuster series.

Celebrating succes with Exoticca. (Pax Global Media)

Guests can take the glass Bailong Elevator built into the side of a cliff that takes them up 326 meters in under two minutes.

“What we see most is smaller groups aged fifty traveling together,” said Pfennig. “Our groups are smaller, 20 people. This age group is most comfortable in a group and having the support from Exoticca.” However, solo travel is still popular and the operator has a strict policy of a one person minimum to run a tour.

Tech talk

“We have invested a lot to make advisors lives easier,” said Pfennig. “Advisors can manage bookings themselves through the portal. There’s no need for the traditional call centre. They can certainly call but we wanted to give them the tools to manage the booking themselves. This year we’ll also launch a flight tab where they can see all the details.”

That being said, a group booking phone line is finally on the way.

And advisors can now create their own branded personal microsites with the Exoticca Private Label (EPL) to promote on social media and drive customers.

Commissions

Commissions are another key differentiator, and part of the secret sauce to Exoticca’s rapid growth. Advisors earn the same commission by the air as by land travel, including taxes.

“With most of our partners, we pay 60 per cent commission immediately after booking. They don’t have to wait until after customers have travelled. They make the booking and within a month they have the commission and it’s non-recallable,” said Pfennig.

And the award goes to…

The evening wrapped up with Exoticca’s first-ever community awards ceremony, recognizing top travel partners and agencies across categories including Growth Partner of the Year, Breakthrough Agency, Top Producer and Legacy Excellence.

Gold and diamond sellers also received special recognition, while an advisor ambassador was named.

See the winners’ list here!