Catalytic distillation can offer significant reduction of capital costs in G/L/S processes that are equilibrium limited. As an alternative to existing catalytic distillation packings, containing bales or pockets of catalyst stacked in (a section of) the distillation column, a novel structured catalyst packing is proposed. The novel packing consists of a common structured distillation packing, on which a binderless film of zeolite crystals is grown via in-situ hydrothermal synthesis. The combination of standard distillation packing structures and thin, binderless zeolitic catalyst films, is expected to yield an active and selective system with good distillation characteristics. As a first step towards demonstrating this principle, structured packings coated with zeolites beta and mordenite were used to synthesize the 'green' octane booster ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) in a liquid phase batch system The prepared structured catalyst packings showed activities and selectivities that are comparable to or higher than the activity of the conventional Amberlyst-15 ion-exchange resin catalyst. Even though the novel catalyst packing has a three times lower catalyst density compared to the currently used packings containing catalyst pockets, it is anticipated that this difference can be compensated for by the potential activity increase of the zeolitic coating, and the higher efficiency and selectivity of the coating. Furthermore, this concept can be applied to many other processes, especially since zeolitic catalysts can offer distinct advantages over more traditional heterogeneous catalysts.