The European Union of Tourist Officers (Europäischer Verband für Tourismus-Fachleute/Union Européenne des Cadres du Tourisme) (EUTO) formally came into being on the 3rd October 1975. EUTO fosters networking between tourism professionals in Europe working in the public and private sectors either at a national, regional or local level.

EUTO provides added value by organising cross border activities that enhance professional networking. EUTO’s Study Visits & Workshops are a good example of this: a range of well-known and highly skilled professionals share their experiences in well-documented presentations while participants exchange information on best practices in their countries during interesting and very interactive workshops. Recent and planned Study Visits include Iceland, Estonia, Malta, Latvia and England.

In recent years, alongside the EUTO Study Visit, a major conference has been delivered by EUTO members, the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change (CTCC). These have been very successful in providing an opportunity for networking between tourism academics and practitioners.

Networking opportunities through EUTO have been proven to lead to the establishment of a number of initiatives outwith EUTO as an organisation. These include a range of projects between Scotland , Iceland and Estonia as well as professional advice and guidance being provided on a one-to-one basis by EUTO members.
 
EUTO encourages high quality professional training of specialists in the European tourism field and is involved in a Leonardo da Vinci funded Transfer of Innovation Project, Vocational Management Training for the European Tourism Industry (VocMat) which was designed by EUTO members. VocMat is developing an innovative, flexible vocational training model for middle and senior management in European tourism. It addresses the barriers of lack of time, distance, costs and easy access that are faced by tourism management seeking to upgrade their knowledge and skills – see www.vocmat.com

Membership of EUTO is open to national associations of tourist officers as well as individual tourism professionals from both the public and private sector.