TORONTO — Exoticca’s CEO Pere Valles says the tour operator wants to be number one in the Canadian market: “Our mission in Canada is to become the leader, not just in brand awareness, but in sales too.”

It’s a lofty goal, but with 65% brand awareness in Canada already – not to mention 75% year-over-year growth from the Canadian market – Valles has reason to aim high.

No doubt many Canadians know the company from its highly visible, high-energy TV ads, inviting travellers ‘to become the director of your own life.’

Valles tells Travelweek a new TV ad campaign is already in the works for 2026, featuring the same actor.

He’s proud of what the 10-year old Exoticca, headquartered in Barcelona, has built in Canada in just six years, fuelled by those ads, strong word-of-mouth and online reviews, the hard work of Mike Quinto, Exoticca’s SVP, Sales, and of course, travel advisors.

A tech-forward company like Exoticca could have gone direct to consumers, and no one in the industry would have been the least surprised. And maybe 20 years ago, B2C would have been the path.

Exoticca’s Toronto event at the Old Mill attracted more than 500 travel advisors

But Exoticca chose to embrace travel advisors, and the company is reaping the benefits. More than 500 Toronto and GTA agents turned out for its Fall Fling travel industry road show last night at The Old Mill.

“We’ve learned that the role of the travel advisor is crucial,” said Valles. “It’s the human touch. We have the technology, but we’re not from the travel industry. Travel agents are super important. We believe they provide a lot of value and they’re an important part of the value chain.”

Exoticca’s Alberto Constans, Chief Growth Officer and President, Americas, shared his take on why travel advisors have taken a shine to the tour operator …

• Commissions. “We’re very generous and we’re simple. We offer 16% on everything- land, air and taxes. We also pay immediately once the client has booked. And the commission won’t be recalled, even when travellers cancel. The travel agent has done the work, they earned it,” says Constans.
• Technology. “We have a great platform. Agents can get quotes very quickly, it’s fast and agents really like that.”
• Product. “The value we provide in terms of pricing is phenomenal. We’re typically priced 30% below our competitors, and we have a price guarantee.”

Constans told Travelweek that more than 70,000 travel advisors in the U.S. and Canada have proactively registered to sell Exoticca. The company’s multi-day packages are available to more than 70 destinations, “from safaris to trips to France and Spain.” Air and land trips are 1-3 weeks, for the most part, he added. Trips are semi-escorted: “There’s a guide with you but not 24/7.”

A mini-trade show with Exoticca’s event parrtners took place before the sit-down dinner

Quinto now heads up sales for North America, but he’s still based in Canada. “So many companies service Canada from the U.S. We do it the other way around,” said Valles with a smile.

In 2024 Exoticca had 100,000 travellers out of North America, including 25,000 out of Canada. The 75% YOY growth from the Canadian market is from 2024 to 2025.

“Our mission is to make dream trips come true,” says Valles. “The traditional tour operator model, it’s based on the UK model, it’s based on what Thomas Cook started so many years ago. That model has been replicated many times but it hasn’t really evolved.”

Valles added: “What we call our ‘secret sauce’ is a new way of building travel products. Part of that is, we buy package components directly from the company providing those components. We don’t use consolidators.”

Going forward, Valles says Exoticca sees only good things from this market: “We’re very committed to Canada.”