TICO Talk - July to September 20

July – September 2011
January –
March 2011
Valuab
le Advic
for Bus ine
ss Ow ner s e
On that note, we are pleased to announce that
Paul Samuel and David Shaw are running for
the retail position currently open on TICO’s
Board of Directors. Be sure to read their bios
on pages 4 and 5.
Next Steps
References to the upcoming Annual
General Meeting – including the Notice
of the AGM to be held on September 27, 2011 –
appear throughout this issue of TICO Talk. Over
the years, we have frequently urged registrants
to learn about TICO – what it stands for, what its
mission is, what its goals are, and how it plans
to achieve them.
By now you should have received the election
ballots. The deadline for voting is September 16,
2011. Please do not forget to do so! Secondly,
please make time to attend the Annual General
Meeting on September 27, 2011, starting at 4.00
pm. As long as you remain in the travel industry
– this will impact YOUR future! We look forward
to seeing you! ▲
The fundamental reason for doing this is that
TICO, working closely with the Ontario
government, is paving the way for the future
health of YOUR industry! To successfully develop
and nurture a fiscally sound travel industry,
a steady flow of two-way communications
between TICO and its stakeholders is critical.
To help you remain informed, TICO’s website,
www.tico.ca, offers the most up-to-date
information on developments that impact
registrants, while TICO TALK provides a quarterly
perspective, including in-depth interviews with
leaders in Ontario’s travel industry.
Avenues for participation in TICO range from
attending town hall meetings, to expressing
concerns on issues that arise, and attending
the AGM. As Jean Hébert opines in his profile
(see page 4), participation is key to the democratic
running of a country, a city… or an organization
such as TICO.
A NEW APPROACH
For the first time, TICO is combining the Business
Plan and the Annual Report. The Business Plan for
2011-2014 and the Annual Report for 2010-2012
is available online at www.tico.ca. There will also
be a limited number of hard copies available
for those who attend the Annual General Meeting
on September 27th, or you can request a copy
by contacting TICO at 1- 888 - 451-TICO or
[email protected].
IN THIS ISSUE...
Letter from the CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Notice of the Annual General Meeting . .
Presenting Jean Hébert . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
3
4
Election Candidate: Paul Samuel . . . . . . .
Election Candidate: David Shaw. . . . . . .
Court Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
5
6
TICO
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2011
INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES
Jim Diebel
President
Hanover Holiday Tours Limited
Hanover, ON
Mike Foster
President
Uniglobe Instant Travel Inc.
London
Jeff Element – Vice Chair
President
The Travel Corporation (Canada)
Toronto
Denise Heffron
Vice President, Commercial
Transat Holidays
Etobicoke
Thanushka Nanayakkara, CTM
President
NAR AT Incorporated
Toronto, ON
David Shaw
President
Evans Intravel Inc.
Orillia
Scott Stewart
President
G. Stewart Travel Services Ltd.
Peterborough
Richard Vanderlubbe
President
Travel Superstore Inc.
Hamilton
Kathleen Warren, CTM
Senior Travel Consultant
Allison’s Travel Agency Ltd.
Windsor
Linda Wright
Director, Customer Service & Legal
Thomas Cook Canada Inc.
Toronto
MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Michael Janigan, J.D., LL.M. – Chair
Executive Director and General Counsel
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
Ottawa
Jean Hébert,
Senior Consultant
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton & Co
Gatineau, QC
Patricia Jensen
Board Member
Consumers Council of Canada
Toronto
Shaher Bano Noor, C.A.
Managing Partner
Rosenthal Pervez & Noor LLP Chartered Accountants
Mississauga
Dr. James Savary
Department of Economics
Glendon College, York University
Toronto
EX OFFICIO
Michael Pepper
President and Chief Executive Officer
Travel Industry Council of Ontario
TICO TALK
LETTER FROM THE CEO
The Travel Industry Council of
Ontario (“TICO”) Annual General
Meeting (“AGM”) is being held on
September 27, 2011 at the Toronto
Congress Centre on Dixon Road.
I encourage all TICO members to
attend this event or log-on to the live
webcast, details of which can be
obtained from the TICO website
at www.tico.ca. This is your
opportunity to learn about TICO’s
activities and participate in discussions
with respect to issues affecting the industry.
At the AGM, TICO will present its 14th Annual Report, for the
fiscal year ending March 31, 2011. The Annual Report, which
contains the financial statements, is available on the TICO
website. The report contains an overview of TICO’s work during
the past 12 months, as well as statistics and analysis. For the first
time, the report has been combined with TICO’s Business Plan
to limit duplication and reduce costs.
The results of the election for the retail seat on the TICO Board
of Directors will be announced at the AGM. TICO will provide
the industry with an overview of its purpose and how it functions
so that stakeholders have a better understanding of TICO’s
responsibilities as a regulator. As CEO, I will also bring members
up to date with the progress of several of the projects that the
Board and staff have been working on and what our expectations
are going forward.
As the summer season comes to a close and we head into the fall
and winter, I would like to remind agencies of the continued need
to protect consumers and your businesses. We have seen an
increase in the misuse of credit cards, where customers have been
charged for someone else’s travel services. This usually occurs
when cash payments from other customers are not deposited
in an agency’s bank account. As an agency owner, you are
responsible for the actions of your employees and contractors,
should fraudulent activity occur. Be vigilant!
TICO welcomes suggestions from industry members. Registrants
can bring issues forward through TICO Board Members or by
writing or emailing TICO.
With my good wishes for a prosperous future,
Michael Pepper, CEO
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Dates to Note
NOTICE OF
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
TAKE NOTICE THAT the Annual General Meeting of the members of the Travel
Industry Council of Ontario (“TICO”) will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday,
September 27, 2011 at the Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon Road, Toronto,
Ontario for the purpose of:
• receiving the financial statements for the previous financial year, together
with the Auditor’s Report;
• receiving and considering the Annual Report;
• appointing the auditors for the next year and authorizing the Board of
Directors to fix the auditor’s remuneration; and
• transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting.
Notice was received by the Corporate Secretary from Darren Swidler of
TruExperiences Tours in Toronto of his intention to bring motions with respect
to the review engagement requirements under Ontario Regulation 26/05 (the
“Regulation”), the process for registrants to submit service complaints for issues
with TICO and the feasibility of appointing an ombudsman to manage
unresolved service complaints from registrants, creating a Registrant “Bill of
Rights” and providing a feedback mechanism to communicate with TICO
committee members and the TICO Board of Directors. A copy of Mr. Swidler’s
proposed motions is available on TICO’s website. The TICO Board is willing to
review the issues submitted by Mr. Swidler.
Only members in good standing are entitled to participate in and vote at the
meeting. Members of the public are invited to attend.
The deadline for providing written notice of any motions to be made at the
Annual Meeting has now passed.
Members who will not be attending the meeting are invited to submit written
requests for proxies. Copies of the audited financial statements as at and for
the fiscal period ended March 31, 2011 will be available at the Annual General
Meeting and may be requested in writing prior to the meeting.
DATED at Mississauga this 23rd day of August, 2011.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Tracey McKiernan, Secretary
2700 Matheson Blvd. East, Suite 402, West Tower, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4V9
Tel: (905) 624-6241 Fax: (905) 624-8631 Toll-free: 1-888-451-TICO
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.tico.ca
October 13 -16, 2011
Ski Snowboard & Travel Show
Better Living Centre
Exhibition Place
195 Princes Boulevard
Toronto
October 29 - 30, 2011
Zoomer Show
Direct Energy Centre
Exhibition Place
195 Princes Boulevard
Toronto
November 11-13, 2011
National Women’s Show
Metro Convention Centre
South Building
222 Bremner Boulevard
Toronto
November 25 - 27, 2011
Explore Adventure & Travel Show
International Centre
6900 Airport Road
Mississauga
TICO will be distributing informational
material at the above shows.
Welcome to the
Board
Confused Consumers
Many consumers believe that they are entitled to a ‘cooling off ’ period after
making a decision to purchase travel services from a TICO registrant. When
their request to cancel the purchase is turned down, TICO often receives
some very unhappy phone calls. To avoid this misunderstanding, we strongly
encourage you to ensure that every travel counsellor working in your agency
understands the importance of clearly explaining the Terms and Conditions
of the purchase to every potential customer.
Consumer Awareness
Campaign: Stay Tuned
Aurora-based Larter has been hired by TICO once again, to help develop and
implement TICO’s Consumer Awareness Campaign for the upcoming year.
Planning the marketing strategy is well underway, and you will be able to
read about it in more detail in the next issue of TICO Talk. Social media such
as Facebook and Twitter are to play a significant role in the campaign.
3
As announced in the April – June
2011 issue of TICO TALK, Jill
Wykes has retired from Thomas
Cook Canada – and relinquished
her position on TICO’s Board of
Directors. Replacing Jill as CATO’s
newest representative on the
Board is Linda Wright, Director,
Customer Service & Legal at
Thomas Cook Canada. Linda is no
stranger to TICO, as she played an
active role on TICO’s Complaints
Committee for a number of years,
and we greatly look forward to her
contributions at the Board level.
TICO TALK
PRESENTING
PAUL SAMUEL
RUNS FOR ELECTION
Paul Samuel is president and
owner of Overseas Travel Limited,
one of Toronto’s oldest
independent agencies. Paul has
over 28 years of experience in
the travel industry. From junior
counsellor to manager and owner,
Paul has witnessed the enormous
changes in the industry and has
first-hand knowledge of the
challenges facing the travel
industry in Ontario. Paul is
passionate about travel and feels
that all sectors of the trade
should strongly promote our
professionalism, qualifications
and experience. This is why Paul
supports the mission of TICO
to maintain an equitable and
informed marketplace for travel
in Ontario as it only serves to
benefit everyone. As a
representative of the retail sector,
Paul will strive to improve lines
of communication with TICO and
ensure that it is accountable and
transparent in its dealings with all
stakeholders.
Paul is a strong believer in
continuing education. In addition
to acquiring B.A., B. Comm. and
CTM, he has also recently
completed a Certificate in Public
Relations at Ryerson University.
He feels that the skills and
knowledge gained from this
program will help him make
a solid contribution to help
communicate TICO’s goals and
objectives with both internal and
external audiences. Paul is a
confident and effective public
speaker and has held volunteer
positions at the Accessible Channel
and ALS Ontario.
TICO TALK
Jean Hébert,
Director,
TICO Board of Directors
Prior to joining TICO’s Board
of Directors, did you have some
background in the travel industry,
or with travel-related issues?
As a Ministry appointee, working in the
travel business is not a requirement. However, some years ago
I worked closely with the travel industry when I was Chief of Staff
to the Minister of Tourism in Québec. What I bring to the Board
of Directors is many years of experience working in the private and
government sector, which has given me a deep understanding of the
legislative and regulatory process, at all levels of government. I have
also sat on other boards of directors. In addition, as an ordinary
traveller, I will bring a perspective that is more akin to that of
a regular consumer.
Why is TICO important to you?
I have always been an advocate for citizens’ rights when it comes
to protecting the public interest, so being on TICO’s Board gives me
an opportunity to pursue this. I like the fact that TICO is essentially
an organization whose focus is protecting consumers, and ensuring
they receive value for money.
In addition, TICO looks after the best interests of the travel industry,
which plays a key role in Ontario’s economy, by providing thousands
of jobs. By working towards a win-win situation for both the
consumer and the travel industry, I think TICO’s work is invaluable.
Which TICO committees are you involved with?
Initially I will be sitting on the Governance Committee and on
the Legislative & Regulatory Review Committee. Having been on
the Board for less than two months, there is still much to learn!
I am most impressed with how well TICO is organized, and with
the obvious competence of my colleagues from the travel
industry. Nonetheless, considering the growing importance
of governance in relation to the role of the board, I can certainly
make meaningful contributions to TICO in this area. The
Legislative & Regulatory Review Committee is very important
because the legislation governs the way the industry works and
how the consumer is protected, and I can already see how the
committee is moving towards improvements. On that note,
I invite all the stakeholders to constantly provide their input.
4
From your standpoint, which of TICO’s many
issues are of particular importance?
DAVID SHAW
Consumer protection is one of the most important issues,
especially when travel services are sold on-line. How can we make
sure, when they are purchasing on the web, that they have the
same information and awareness of their legal rights and
coverage, as when dealing face-to-face or on the telephone with
a travel counsellor?
Second, while I do not think that TICO should be fully bilingual,
as there is a substantial francophone population in Ontario, there
may be some ways we can increase accessibility to TICO’s services,
for both consumers and registrants.
Third, as a consultant, I have worked extensively in education,
so I strongly believe that providing travel industry personnel
with all the tools necessary to become and remain good
professionals is crucial.
And finally, I will certainly look at what other jurisdictions are
doing to protect the consumer and to support the travel industry.
Is there any possible harmonization countrywide?
What do you consider to be TICO’s main challenge?
Although what TICO does is absolutely fundamental to the
ongoing health of Ontario’s travel industry, we need to make sure
that the industry understands and appreciates the services and
functions of TICO. It would be a great help to have more industry
participation when opportunities arise, such as attendance at the
AGM and town hall meetings.
Because it can be an arduous and complex process, the second
major challenge is to make sure that TICO’s recommendations
and reforms will go through the government process in order
to bring positive change.
Where do you hope to see TICO and the Ontario
travel industry in the next five years?
I might answer this differently six months from now! I’d like
to see TICO being part of a national organization that offers
consumer protection, armed with all the tools necessary to
support the travel industry and protect the consumer. It’s also
extremely important to maintain a robust Compensation Fund
with sufficient resources.
Do you have any further comments for
TICO TALK readers?
I would like to invite as many registrants as possible to attend
the AGM on September 27. Participation is key to the democratic
process and TICO needs input from those in the industry.
The AGM is an excellent opportunity for registrants to learn about
what TICO is doing, and to see how they can be part of the
process to continue strengthening Ontario’s travel industry. ▲
5
RUNS FOR ELECTION
D avid caught the travel bug while
working from 1979 to 1984 as
a Senior Market Researcher for
an international mining,
metallurgical and processing
equipment manufacturer. In 1984
an opportunity to purchase an
agency was realized, quickly
followed by the purchase of a
second agency in 1985. He was
elected President of the Huronia
Independent Travel Agents
Association in 1986, representing
sixteen regional agencies, and
led the merge with Travel
T-Comm in 1988. While on the T-Comm Board and
as President, David oversaw
growth from 66 to 234 agency
members, and from a regional
to a national organization. As President of Travel T-Comm,
he designed and oversaw the
rebuilding of T-Comm
Management structure. He was
elected and served on the C-Star
Board of Directors from 2002
to 2007 and to the TICO Board for
a one-year term in 2007, being
re-elected in 2008 for a further
three-year term. Over the past few years, David
has participated on the Education
Standards, Business Strategy,
Legislative & Regulatory Review
and Alternate Finance Committees
in contributing to TICO’s future
directions. David has also been
active over the years in Rotary
International, Ducks Unlimited
wetland conservation, municipal
politics, youth education
initiatives, organizing, sponsoring
and coaching youth sports, City
of Orillia BIA, Chamber of
Commerce, Orillia Jazz Festival,
Georgian College’s Business
Advisory Board and numerous
other great organizations. TICO TALK
Upcoming
Issues
Court Matters
CHARGES
Julie Bevan, o/a Cosmopolitan Travel, has been charged with 12
counts of operating as a travel agent without registration, contrary to
Section 4(1)(a) of the Travel Industry Act, 2002. Ms. Bevan was
previously registered under the Travel Industry Act, 2002 as a travel
agent and continued to operate after her registration was suspended
on August 10, 2010. Ms. Bevan was located in Hamilton, Ontario.
In future issues of
TICO TALK we plan to
include:
• Report on the Annual
General Meeting
Steve Gajadhar has been charged with one count of operating as a
travel agent without registration, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) of Travel
Industry Act, 2002. Mr. Gajadhar operated in Brampton and elsewhere
in Ontario.
• Consumer Awareness
Campaign 2011-2012
• Trade Shows and upcoming
events
Gary David Clegg has been charged with one count of operating as
a travel agent without registration, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) of the
Travel Industry Act, 2002. Mr. Clegg operated under the name of
Shumba Tracks Consulting in Heathcote and elsewhere in Ontario.
He was previously convicted in February 2011 on one count of
operating without registration, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) of the Act.
Copyright (c) 2011 Travel Industry
Council of Ontario. All right s
reserved. Contents of this newsletter
may be reproduced in whole or in part
provided the intended use is for noncommercial purposes and the Travel
Indu str y Council of O nt ario is
acknowledged as the source on all
co p i e s . S o m e m at e r i a l s i n t h i s
newsletter may be subject to copyright
from an outside source and therefore
there may be different restrictions on
the reproduction of this material. This
newsletter is published by the Travel
Industry Council of Ontario and is
provided to all Travel Industry Act
registrants. The information provided
in this newsletter is provided for
general knowledge purposes only and
is not intended to be legal advice.
CONVICTIONS
John G. Pelosi, o/a Tiger/Eagle Sports Functions, has been
convicted on eight counts of acting or holding himself out as being
available to act as a travel agent without being registered, contrary to
Subsection 4(1)(a) of the Travel Industry Act, 2002. Mr. Pelosi operated
in the Keswick area and elsewhere, selling accommodations and
transportation to sports events. Consumer losses amounted to
approximately $100,000. Mr. Pelosi was sentenced to 21 days in jail
and was arrested and taken into custody on June 7, 2011.
Nizar Laasi and 7N Canada Inc., o/a Jubilee Travels and Tours,
have been convicted on one count each of failing to maintain trust
accounts, contrary to Section 27 of Ontario Regulation 26/05 made
under the Travel Industry Act, 2002. Nizar Laasi was president of 7N
Canada Inc., o/a Jubilee Travels and Tours, which closed on July 26,
2010. The Compensation Fund paid claims to consumers of $1,120.
Mr. Laasi, who was fined $1,500 and is subject to a two-year period
of probation, subsequently repaid these claims to the Compensation
Fund. While on probation, Mr. Laasi must inform the Registrar,
Travel Industry Act, 2002, at least five days prior to signing a contract
as an employee or outside sales representative with any prospective
employer in the travel industry. Mr. Laasi, must also inform his
employer of his conviction under the Act. 7N Canada Inc., o/a Jubilee
Travels and Tours, received a suspended sentence.
2700 Matheson Boulevard East,
Ste 402, West Tower,
Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4V9.
REVOCATIONS
Between May 4 and August 10, 2011, two companies had their
registrations revoked: Minfare Travel Inc. o/a Minfare Travel and
Travel Good Time Tours Inc. ▲
Tel: (905) 624-6241
Fax: (905) 624-8631
Toll-free: 1-888-451-TICO
e-mail: [email protected]
web site: www.tico.ca
TICO TALK
6