The European Tourism Association (ETOA) and ForwardKeys have signed an agreement, formalising their new partnership, to develop a marketing partnership that will better support the tourism stakeholders and members at ETOA with the latest and most comprehensive data analytics at key events and via their Insight Hub.
ETOA is a member-driven community of over 1,100 organisations, from global brands to independent small businesses, DMOs, industry partners and technical specialists. Supported by their supplier members and partners, they work on behalf of tour operators, wholesalers, destination management companies and agents to enable a sustainable business environment in which European tourism can thrive and grow.
A key objective of the partnership is to share how more relevant, more timely and more actionable data can be leveraged to better monitor, manoeuvre, plan and achieve real business outcomes within the shifting travel ecosystem.
“The partnership underlines the role of data analytics and intelligence tools towards tourism recovery, in a time when data-led decisions and strategies are more crucial than ever, especially for ETOA’s extensive membership of 125 national, regional and local tourism boards across Europe,” says Olivier Jager, CEO and Co-Founder at ForwardKeys.
“The decisions that government and private sector business leaders make today may impact the organisations’ trajectories for years to come. In these unchartered waters, where the tides continue to shift with targets constantly moving, data-driven insights are no longer nice-to-haves but must-have navigational tools”, adds Jager.
ETOA’s Chief Executive Officer, Tom Jenkins, emphasised the importance of building partnerships to effectively address common challenges. “Collaborating with like-minded partners will be pivotal for regional tourism organisations and tour operators, particularly against the backdrop of the pandemic and current geopolitical uncertainty. Innovative collaboration will fast track tourism rebuilding and strengthen our collective resilience for the long run. Not to mention solid data will quickly dispel myths and legends, proving that travel is on the mends again.”
“ETOA and ForwardKeys share common interests and outcomes for the tourism industry. The importance of timely and reliable data is undeniable. We are very excited to work with ForwardKeys, helping our members in Europe and its global source markets navigate risks with timely data and hyper-relevant presentations”, says Tom Jenkins, CEO at ETOA.