ETC re-elects Oberascher
At its 72nd General Meeting held in
Reykjavik, Iceland, the European Travel Commission re-elected its President,
Arthur Oberascher, for a further three-year term in office. “The idea at the core of ETC is that ‘Destination Europe’ can be more effective as a
whole”, said Oberascher, who continued, “let us join together to develop ETC as
Europe’s face to the world and the leading knowledge network for tourism”.
The President recalled the achievements of the past three years, including the
launch of the visiteurope.com portal and the
development of a brand identity for ‘Destination Europe’, as well as five new
countries joining ETC.
ETC convened in Reykjavik for the second time in its 59-year history. At the
meeting, which was addressed by Mr Sturla Böðvarsson, Iceland’s Minister of Tourism
and Transport, ETC expressed its thanks for the support and commitment of the
Icelandic Tourist Board over the past years under its Director General, Mr Magnœs
Oddsson.
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At the Reykjavik meeting, ETC also welcomed Georgia into its ranks, swelling
membership to 38 countries. Georgia was represented by its Deputy Minister for
Economic Development, Mr Vano Nakaidze, and Mr Otar Bubashvili, who is Chairman of
the Ministry’s Department of Tourism and Resorts. The country follows Serbia,
Montenegro and San Marino, which all joined ETC at its October 2006 General Meeting
in Malta.
Looking ahead to his second term, Mr Oberascher stated that the challenge for both
ETC and its member NTOs was managing change. This will require shifting sights from
just one ‘P’ to four ‘P’s: from organisations that focus on promotion, to
knowledge-based organisations that also provide knowledge and counselling for
product and service design, price strategies and placement.
ETC will hold its Third Executive Summit and Symposium on the subject of operational
excellence on 3 October 2007 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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