ASIA – India’s ministry of tourism hosted the opening ceremony of this year’s Pacific-Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart 2015 (PTM2015), in Bangalore, on 7 September, 2015. This year’s event attracted 1,000 delegates from 61 destinations, including 242 buyers. Representatives of the government of Karnataka, PATA Chairman Kevin Murphy and the association’s CEO Mario Hardy were all in attendance. Addressing a media briefing at the Bangalore International Convention Center, Murphy said: “Over the years the Mart’s continued success has been due to its ability to continue to add further value for our delegates and members, while striking the right balance between quality and quantity for our registered buyer and sellers.” As part of the event, Christ University in Bangalore for hosted the PATA Youth Symposium for 200 young professionals. Strategic partner Phocuswright helped organise the PATA Technology Forum along with Connecting Travel. Founded in 1951, PATA provides research and events to its member organisations, which comprise 87 government, state and city tourism bodies, 25 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 59 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Travel professionals are united through 43 local PATA chapters worldwide. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. Host destinations for three major events in 2017 and 2018 were endorsed and announced by the association’s executive board during a meeting in Bangalore, on 6 September 6. The PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference & Mart 2017 is to take place in Luoyang, Henan province, China. The PATA Annual Summit 2017 will take place in Negombo – a resort on the west coast of Sri Lanka, while the 2018 Annual Summit will be hosted in Pyeongchang-gun county, Gangwon province in South Korea (ROK). The region will also host the next Winter Olympics from 9-25 February, 2018. PATA CEO Mario Hardy said: “The PATA events calendar has never looked more exciting and it has certainly never been busier. We are committed to encouraging the dispersal of tourists across a much broader spectrum of destinations and there is no doubt that our events programme gives a much needed boost to secondary and tertiary cities.” Other significant PATA events this year include:
- 16 October: PATA Global Insights Conference 2015, Auckland, New Zealand
- 19-21 October: 9th UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook, Guilin, China
- 25-27 November: PATA New Tourism Frontiers Forum 2015, Legazpi, Philippines.
Dates and programmes for all events re published on the PATA website.
