The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) has taken on two new members of staff to help drive growth of the Association and to improve member services.

ETOA plans to become a source of authoritative travel industry information and in particular in the European inbound sector. It will build a knowledge resource containing data from third party sources and also exclusive information. This will include findings from numerous member surveys into the state of the industry and a study commissioned from ETOA by the European Travel Commission and the World Tourism Organisation into the position and image of Europe in the Chinese travel market.

Irena Smith, who graduated with a first class degree in Tourism and Planning from Westminster University, will be responsible for setting up ETOA�s new knowledge resource and for generating information for members. Irena speaks three languages, Czech, English and Slovak.

To make the knowledge base available to members, ETOA will proactively send regular bulletins, containing the latest information on visitor demand and other useful statistics.

Lisa Eckermann, who has an MSC in International Business from the University of Hertfordshire and a BA (Hons) in Business and Tourism from the Cologne Business School, will take on the role of Marketing Executive with responsibility for Marketing, Sponsorship and Member Communication. Lisa also speaks three languages, English, German and Spanish.

Tom Jenkins, Executive Director, ETOA, said: �ETOA has been growing consistently and it now has more than 400 members. With the recent research appointment by the ETC and WTO plus our investment in Lisa and Irena, who are both high-calibre graduates, there will be a step change in the levels of service and knowledge we will be able to provide to our members.�

For further information, please contact Tom Jenkins or Rachel Tym on: +44 (0) 20 7499 4412 or Email: RTym@ETOA.org.

ENDS

About ETOA Since its foundation in 1989, ETOA has grown exponentially to include over 350 member organisations, of which 102 are Tour Operators. Collectively, ETOA represents over �6 billion spending on accommodation and travel services annually.

ETOA provides representation at the European government level for companies involved in bringing tourists to Europe. The Association promotes greater awareness of the benefits provided by the group travel industry in Europe - particularly increased income and employment. ETOA also influences European tourism policy and legislation.

Areas of specific activity include: � Promoting Europe as a tourism destination � Establishing codes of conduct and guidelines for its members � Establishing commercial opportunities between buyers and sellers � Working with other travel & tourism associations to raise the industry�s profile