Industry celebrates career of TICO's Michael Pepper

Though it was a party he hoped to have a little earlier, on Feb. 25, friends and colleagues came together to celebrate the retirement of Michael Pepper, longtime leader of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO).

“All of us are sorry that Michael is leaving his post as CEO at TICO but he is leaving behind a host of accomplishments we are here to celebrate,” said Michael Janigan, chair of the TICO board.

Pepper has been CEO of TICO since its inception in 1997. Janigan said Pepper was instrumental in finding a way to make a complex business model work. With his business skills, Pepper was able to navigate a course that was responsive to government oversight and steered for a shield of consumer protection, industry education standards, financial compliance and best practices.

“In situations where there was outright fraud and conduct that was unbecoming of the industry, Michael was firm in his approach and resolute in the pursuit of those individuals,” Janigan said. “At the same time, he was prepared at all times to work with people of good faith and genuine intention to try to fashion remedies in circumstances where obviously there was a hard fit between the administrative rules and the practical circumstances.” 

Janigan also spoke of Pepper’s ability to attract and instill confidence in a superb staff, most of whom stayed with him through his tenure at TICO.

TICO made its announcement of Pepper’s decision to retire in October 2013, which he had first intended for July 2014. However, Pepper stayed on with TICO until they "found the right man for the job."

“Certainly, I have big shoes to fill,” said Richard Smart, TICO’s new CEO. “Among Michael’s many accomplishments, TICO’s overall mandate around consumer protection is probably the strongest mandate framework across any in Canada. That is a credit to Michael’s leadership.”

Smart is a chartered professional accountant and most recently served as chief financial officer at the Technical Standards and Safety Authority. Prior to that, he held the position of CFO at both AMJ Campbell Inc. and Air Canada Vacations. Smart's experience and expertise in finance, planning, risk management and governance is what Pepper saw as key qualifications for a very complex role, Pepper told PAX in an interview with the pair about the past, present and future of TICO.

After more speeches, a video of highlights of past conferences, presentation of a plaque and several impressions of travel industry folk by John Kirk, Pepper himself took the stage.

“The accolades that I received from everybody are not just for me, but for the TICO staff and board and the industry itself,” Pepper said, adding that TICO has benefited from the experience, advice and guidance of the people involved. 

Pepper also thanked his staff, pointing out those who had also been there since day one, a staff who pulled together to achieve those principles for which TICO now stands. He spoke of the tumultuous times of TICO’s beginnings, with the lack of the right regulations and failures that cost the industry a lot of money in compensation. Pepper said TICO worked side-by-side with the industry to right the wrongs of what was happening.

“I think now, if we look at how we deal with compliance of the regulations, we try to deal with it so we work with people, rather than close people down,” he said. 

He closed by saying it has been an honour working for TICO with its wonderful staff and wonderful board and that he was humbled by such a turnout at his retirement party.

Though Pepper may have retired, his presence will still be felt, as Pepper is now statutory director for TICO, as appointed by the Board of Directors.