Tom Jenkins has been CEO of the European Tourism Association (ETOA) for over twenty years. Before that, he was a tour guide. And in 1991, he sat in Venice and tried to tell the industry it had an overcrowding problem coming. He was roundly ignored.

Thirty-five years later, we're finally having the conversation properly.

In this episode we talk about where European tourism genuinely stands right now. The North American boom that has run out of steam, what is happening in Asia, and why the situation in the Gulf is creating headwinds that nobody quite knows how to plan around. Tom doesn't sugar coat it.

We also get into why the demographic shift in long-haul travel, with older, more affluent and more flexible visitors coming from the US, Japan, Korea and China, is quietly creating the conditions for low season travel to grow in a way it hasn't before. And why tour operators are actually better placed to add value when things are quiet than when everywhere is full and selling itself.

Plus: ETOA's shoulder and off-peak marketplace event SHOP 2026, the Tourism Seasonality Summit in Rimini, and Tom's personal off-peak recommendation which, in true form, turns out to be Wales.

Links

ETOA SHOP 2026, London, 12 June 2026: etoa.org

Tourism Seasonality Summit, Rimini, 17 and 18 May 2026: seasonalitysummit.com

Low Season Traveller: lowseasontraveller.com

Balancing Tourism is hosted by Ged Brown, Founder of Low Season Traveller and the Tourism Seasonality Summit.