ETC was founded by J. Mara DelliPriscoli, whose early vision helped establish educational and affinity travel as a distinct professional field within the broader travel industry. Her emphasis on lifelong learning, cross-sector collaboration, and relationship-driven program development continues to shape ETC today.
The Educational Travel Consortium (ETC) was founded in 1987 around a simple but powerful idea: travel could be more than tourism, it could be a vehicle for lifelong learning, cultural exchange, and meaningful human connection.
At the time, there were few professional resources dedicated to the growing world of nonprofit and institutional travel programs. Universities, museums, alumni associations, conservation organizations, and cultural institutions were operating increasingly sophisticated travel programs, yet lacked a dedicated forum to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and strengthen professional standards.
ETC was created to fill that gap.
From the beginning, ETC took a different approach than traditional travel trade shows. Rather than focusing primarily on transactions, ETC was designed as a professional development community where institutional travel planners, specialized tour operators, destinations, and suppliers could collaborate around the evolving practice of educational travel.
What began as a small gathering of nonprofit travel professionals has since evolved into an international network spanning universities, museums, conservation organizations, cultural institutions, tour operators, destinations, cruise companies, and travel suppliers across more than 40 countries.
Throughout its history, ETC has helped shape the evolution of educational and affinity travel by advancing conversations around:
In 2025, ETC entered a new chapter of leadership with the transition of stewardship to Caliopy Glaros, a consultant and facilitator specializing in donor travel. Caliopy brings a strong focus on relationship-centered program design, community building, and the continued evolution of ETC as a year-round professional network. Under this next phase of leadership, ETC continues to build on its long-standing foundation while expanding its focus on member connectivity, professional development, research, and industry benchmarking for the educational and affinity travel sector.
Today, ETC continues to serve as a platform for relationship-building, professional development, and collaboration across the educational travel ecosystem. While the industry has evolved significantly since 1987, ETC’s core belief remains the same: thoughtfully designed travel experiences have the power to deepen understanding, foster connection, and create lasting impact for both travelers and host communities.
ETC has been connecting educational travel professionals since 1987. The community you just read about is the community you join when you become a member. Membership is open to nonprofit and institutional organizations that design, manage, or oversee educational travel programs.
