REPORT – 55th PATA CONFERENCE – THAILAND: The Thai tourism industry has mobilised in force to host one of the region’s most important travel events, the…
REPORT – 55th PATA CONFERENCE – THAILAND: The Thai tourism industry has mobilised in force to host one of the region’s most important travel events, the 55th Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Conference in Pattaya. It is the first of three major travel conventions to be held this year in Pattaya, all of them at the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall — the Corporate Travel World Asia-Pacific (CTW) and Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) will be held between 10-12 October, followed by the 67th SKAL World Congress between 15-20 October.
The tourism industry of Pattaya is hugely excited by these spate of events which, along with the planned opening of the second Bangkok airport, Suvannabhumi, later this year, will give tremendous positive exposure to the entire Thai Eastern Seaboard area.
Thailand has previously hosted the annual PATA conference in 1969, 1982 and 1996. However, all of these have been in Bangkok.
In awarding the bid at its meeting in Bahrain in 2003, the PATA Board of Directors felt that it was time to offer more marketing and promotional opportunities to secondary destinations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The 2006 conference is expected to be attended by around 1,200 senior executives from Asia-Pacific national tourism organisations, airlines, hotels, tour companies, researchers, consultants and other travel related organisations. Students and youth aged under 35 years are also expected to attend, paying a special registration fee of only 3,900 baht.
The main conference is accompanied by a number of committee and industry meetings to discuss specific industry subjects like sustainable tourism, marketing, research and human resources development.
The 2006 conference theme of “Changing Lifestyles — New Opportunities” focus on how fast-changing lifestyles and values can create new opportunities for travel and tourism businesses.
These include Baby Boomers and the Challenge of Generations X&Y, And Long May They Live …, The Diagnostics of Medical Travel, Significant Niche Markets-Optimising the Potential, Lowering the Cost, Keeping the Value-Defining the “Low-Cost” Revolution, And Don’t Forget Your Mobile … Making Sense of Technological Trends.
Well-known personalities have been invited to speak such as the Vice President/Publisher of National Geographic Traveler, presenter from BBC World as well as the author of guidebooks on location of the famous trilogy Lord of the Rings.
Opening Keynote speaker, Mr. Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Group said “The conference theme captures so many of the big trends which are going to affect the global travel and tourism industry, from post-retirement lifestyles of the baby boomers and the rise of an Asian middle class to the impact of low-cost carriers and the internet.”
Closing Keynote Speaker, Mr. Mechai Viravaidya, Chairman, Population & Community Development Association, known as “Mr Condom” will share his vision of the travel industry as an effective instrument for generating positive change.
Along with 107 international and local media registered for this event, tourism ministers from eight countries are also confirmed to attend: Mr. Somphong Mongkhonvilay of Lao PDR; Mr. Lay Prohas of Cambodia; Mr. Jero Wacik of Indonesia; Dr. Chui Sai On of Macau SAR; Mr. David Basau of Papua New Guinea; Dr. Mahamood Shaugee of Maldives; and Mr. Venugopal Kozhummal Chattadi of Kerala.
Mrs Juthamas Siriwan, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand said, “Thailand has always shared a very special relationship with PATA, especially since it moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Bangkok in 1998.”
PATA President and CEO Peter de Jong said, “Thailand is one of the region`s most popular quality travel destinations. It has embarked upon a programme of sustainable growth, especially destinations like Pattaya which has worked hard to reposition itself on the global tourism scene.”
Pattaya and other destinations along the east coast of Thailand are expected to benefit significantly from the opening of Bangkok’s second international airport in 2006. Many of these have been included in the programme of pre- and post-conference tours.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
