TORONTO — Despite a surplus of more than half a million dollars and minimal claims on the Compensation Fund, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario is proposing another increase in contributions to the Fund.

Two year ago, TICO raised the payouts from registrants to the Compensation Fund to 15 cents per $1,000 in sales from five cents. TICO now proposes raising this again to 22 cents.

held its annual general meeting last night, providing members with an update on the organization’s activities and achievements, along with goals for the coming year.

At TICO’s AGM this week, new president & CEO Richard Smart, who succeeded Michael Pepper earlier this year, said the organization managed a surplus of $504,364.

Registrants contributed $2,395,653 to the Compensation Fund, almost twice as much as the previous year because of the hike to 15 cents per $1,000 in sales. The Fund in turn paid out just $55,622, one of the lowest figures on record.

The number of registrants continues to drop very slightly to 2,485 from 2,512 the previous year with 159 coming on board and 186 leaving.

Some 6,236 wrote the TICO exam, up 17% from the previous year.

Three new members are joining TICO’s board. Tisha Saunders of Marlin Travel in Orangeville was elected for a spot open to a wholesale, retail or marketing group representative. Paul Samuel  of Vision Travel was elected to  spot open to retailers and OMCA’s Scott Stewart was the only candidatefor a wholesale position.