TICO marks 20 years

Board members and employees of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario were joined by provincial government representatives to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary last night, commemorating two decades of industry regulation and consumer protection while looking toward the future.

The exclusive gathering at the Mississauga Golf & Country Club welcomed a number of past chairs of the TICO board, including Richard Vanderlubbe, Jill Wykes, Scott Stewart, Arend Roos and Michael Janigan, along with former TICO CEO Michael Pepper, who retired from the organization in 2015. TICO members were also joined by Kevin French and Glen Padassery, deputy minister and assistant deputy minister respectively within the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services.

Among TICO’s many achievements over the years, President & CEO Richard Smart detailed the number of Ontario travellers – 25,000 – which have benefited from the TICO Compensation Fund since 1997.

Richard Vanderlubbe and Michael Pepper

“There’s no better way to commemorate this occasion than by acknowledging the consumers who have benefited from TICO’s protection,” Smart said. “We couldn’t have done all of this without you. When I first joined TICO, a phrase that was shared with me was that we were ‘small but mighty.’ We are very proud of our past and equally enthusiastic about our future and the challenges that we have in front of us.”

TICO’s 20th anniversary celebrations takes place during a comprehensive review of the Travel Industry Act, which has concluded its third and final phase of consultation and is expected to be presented in the near future.

In a letter to TICO read by current Board Chair Jean Hebert,, Government and Consumer Services Minister Tracy McCharles sent greetings and congratulated the organization on two decades of service.

“Most recently, I’m grateful to TICO for it’s support of the Travel Industry Act review,” the minister said. “Your feedback continues to be instrumental to helping improve protections for Ontarians when buying travel services, while helping reduce the burden on travel businesses so they can grow and prosper.”