TICO fees set to rise

Registrant fees are soon set to rise in Ontario, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) announced at its annual general meeting Tuesday night. Starting April 1, 2013, the proposed fee would be .15 per $1,000 of business, rising to .25 the following year and .30 in 2015. The move, which will be first subject to consultation with stakeholders, who currently pay .05 per thousand, comes after six years of artificially low fees while TICO sought to reduce the Compensation Fund balance from approximately $30 million to a desired range of $20 million to $25 million. One delegate challenged the fee structure in general and motioned for an overall audit of TICO operations, but was defeated by a margin of two to one, with all of the dissenting votes being held by proxy. In other TICO news, the latest figures show that the number of retail registrants in Ontario rose by six to 2,507 this year. The modest rise is significant as it is the first positive number since 2001. Also, the council revealed that it will soon take its consumer awareness campaign to a ‘new level,’ following a concerted trade campaign designed to learn from and educate educate agents on dealing with the public. For full details on these stories, please see next week’s editions of Canadian Travel Press and Travel Courier.