Vice President, EBI Consulting Group

Joël Marier has a career spanning more than thirty years as a senior executive in the youth and student travel sector, particularly those with a non-profit or charitable focus. Until 2015, he was the Executive Director of Hostelling International – Canada, a position he held for over 12 years. Since May 2014 Joel has been co-owner of HI-Niagara Falls, a small, fast-growing tourism business in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  In this latter role he has worked with many groups and local authorities to develop a sustainable tourism strategy in the region.

As a Chartered Administrator, today, he is vice-president of EBI Consulting, an international firm based in Canada and specializing in youth tourism business development and risk management.  As well, since 2016 Joël has been working with the J.W. McConnell Foundation in its social enterprise program as a coach and trainer.  Since 2018, he has also served on the Travel Safety Panel of the WYSE Travel Confederation. 

A graduate in business administration from UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) in 1992, Joël has worked in leadership in various Quebec, Canadian and international coalitions and federations working in the youth recreation and tourism sectors. He has especially contributed to placing sustainable development and network capacity at the heart of the mission of the International Youth Hostel Movement. Over the course of his career, he has developed strong skills in strategic analysis, business and economic growth, policy and program development for social change (such as UNESCO World Heritage Sites), and network facilitation and mobilization.

His many volunteer positions include mentoring for the Canadian Society of Association Executives and the Ordre professionnel des administrateurs agréés du Québec. At the international level, with his fluency in English, French and Spanish, Joël serves as an industry expert for ISO on risk management and tourism, as well as consumer policies at the Canadian and international levels.

Joël lives with his family in Gatineau, Quebec.

Session:

Safety: Who defines it and how do we ensure it?