TICO marks 25 years of consumer protection
On June 25, 1997, TICO officially opened its doors and took on the mandate of consumer protection for Ontario’s travellers. Much has changed within the travel industry since then, but TICO has remained focused on supporting consumers by promoting a fair, safe and informed travel marketplace.
One of TICO’s overarching messages has always been, and continues to be, to share the benefits of purchasing travel from a TICO registered business.
Dating right back to TICO’s early days, our consumer awareness campaign has encouraged Ontarians to book their travel with a TICO registered travel agency, booking website or tour operator.
Do you remember seeing these past campaigns? A lot has certainly changed in how these campaigns look over the years, but our advice has remained steadfast.
Over the past 25 years, TICO has:
- Answered 115,656 consumer enquiries via emails, phone calls and walk-ins
- Closed 6,594 written consumer complaints
- Facilitated $4,962,172 in restitution between registrants and consumers
- Paid $14,880,349 from the Compensation Fund to assist 24,037 consumers
- Repatriated 4,266 consumers stranded in destination
- Conducted 46,155 bench reviews of registrants’ financial records, along with 11,105 site inspections
- Issued 2,675 warnings to unregistered operators