TICO reviews year of change and resilience at annual meeting

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) held its annual meeting on Thursday, providing an overview of the past fiscal year and the state of Ontario’s travel sector.

TICO chair Michael Levinson opened the session and introduced several speakers, including a message from the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, Stephen Crawford.

"Ontarians deserve a transparent, accountable market backed by strong protections and fair enforcement,” he said in a recorded video message. 

“Together, we will deliver on our commitment to protect Ontario.”

Levinson said the last fiscal year was one of extraordinary change and progress for Ontario’s travel industry. 

He highlighted that over the last year, TICO launched two new advisory councils, one for consumers and one for industry, which he said have been very valuable in bringing fresh perspectives. 

Levinson said TICO continues to address the recommendations of the Auditor General from their 2023 value for money audit, and have supported efforts to improve operational effectiveness and boost efficiency. 

That includes exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence.

He said the industry has seen volatility the last year, which caused the board to make risk oversight a top priority.

"We've taken a proactive approach, identifying risks early, assessing them thoroughly, and putting mitigation strategies in place,” Levinson said. 

“Our goal is simple, to safeguard consumer confidence in Ontario's travel market place.”

Economic shifts and market performance

TICO CEO Richard Smart, who spoke during the meeting, said that the fiscal year began with renewed optimism as inflation and interest rates were trending downward, creating a favourable economic environment and strong consumer demand for travel. 

However, he said the global landscape changed in the fall with the U.S. election that caused significant volatility in the marketplace.

"This led to lower consumer confidence and affordability concerns,” he said. 

“Despite these challenges, Ontario’s travel market showed remarkable resilience, closing the year with near record sales.”

He said that for the fiscal year, ending March 31, 2025, Ontario’s growth sales were at $18 billion, compared to $18.1 billion the year before. 

Smart said that TICO has engaged with consumers and Ontario’s travel industry to see where they can add more value. 

He added that 80 per cent of consumers say that TICO is valuable to them as travellers, and among Ontarians who are aware of TICO, 75 per cent prefer to book with a TICO-registered agency. 

Among the industry, Smart said 70 per cent of registrants express confidence in TICO, and 70 per cent are satisfied with the agency. 

Smart said that at the end of the fiscal year, TICO completed 70 per cent of the action items recommended in the Auditor General’s value for money audit in 2023, which is shy of the 80 per cent the body is at today. 

He noted TICO met its budget obligations, and reported a reasonable surplus for the fiscal year. 

TICO’s revenues for the last fiscal year were $7.8 million, up nearly seven per cent from the previous year, with renewal payments comprising the bulk of that – 57 per cent of it to be exact. 

The agency’s expenses grew about 16 per cent from the previous year to $6 million, which Smart attributed to TICO’s investment in addressing the Auditor General’s recommendations.

He said consumer claims against the compensation fund came to nearly $403,000, which is an increase of $109,000 from the previous year, but still lower than expectations.

"As a result, the compensation fund balance of March 31st, 2025 was just under $24 million, about $200,000 higher than the prior year,” Smart said. 

“We ended the year with a net surplus, which will be retained in our reserves to prepare for potential economic challenges ahead.”

Registrant trends and board elections

Dorian Werda, TICO’s registrar, said during the meeting that the agency’s registrant base stayed steady during the year, with there being 1,894 registrants at the end of the fiscal year, compared to 1,921 the previous year, a drop of 1.5 per cent. 

She said there were 141 voluntary terminations, similar to the 135 terminations the previous year. 

TICO received 114 new registration applications, which she said is among the highest levels they’ve seen in recent years. 

Written complaints were down to 116 from 281 the prior year. 

TICO helped consumers get $121,441 in restitution, compared to $354,000 the previous year. 

She said there was also a 50 per cent increase in warnings issued to unregistered travel sellers this year, many of which involved short-term rental agencies or hobby-based travel organizers where travel isn’t their main line of business. 

TICO had an over 90 per cent success rate of bringing those operators into compliance.

The meeting also involved a vote to determine the three-year industry director position, which Mike Foster, a travel consultant with Nexion Travel Group Canada, won. 

The board also recommended Heather Colquhoun for the three-year public board position, which voters confirmed.

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