Hybrid PATA Adventure Travel Conference and Mart 2021 Begins Tomorrow

BANGKOK, May 25, 2021 – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), in partnership with the Department of Tourism of the Philippines, will be organising a hybrid PATA Adventure Travel Conference and Mart 2021 on May 26-27.

“With vaccine rollout plans beginning to take shape across the world, there is new hope in the resumption of regional and international travel. The PATA Adventure Travel Conference and Mart provides a timely opportunity for industry stakeholders to begin exploring new opportunities in adventure travel within the region,” said PATA CEO Dr Mario Hardy. “I invite all industry stakeholders to join us as we work towards the responsible and sustainable renewal of the travel and tourism industry.”

The PATA Adventure Travel Conference and Mart (ATCM) is traditionally held in February and attracts more than 200 delegates from over 25 countries. This will be the first time the event is being held as a hybrid event in May. The niche two-day event, with both conference and travel mart components, brings together tourism professionals involved in adventure travel and responsible tourism to discuss creating new opportunities for promoting environmental protection and social sustainability within the industry. The conference is designed to support PATA’s vision for the responsible development of tourism, while the one-day travel mart helps promote, build and strengthen business and networks for delegates. The hybrid conference will take place in Clark, Philippines and will open to local delegates only, with international delegates able to join virtually.

“As the global travel and tourism industries gradually begin recovery, this event comes at a most opportune time, serving as a premiere platform to introduce new and innovative tourism products that cater to the evolving needs of consumers.”, said the Philippines Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. “Equally important is highlighting the growing role and value of sustainable tourism development, which is fully aligned with the long-term goals and vision of the Philippines Department of Tourism.

Confirmed speakers for the event include Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Philippine Department of Tourism; Soon Hwa Wong, Chair, PATA; Benito C. Bengzon, Jr., Undersecretary, Philippine Department of Tourism; Carmen Roberts, The Travel Show Presenter, BBC World News; Natasha Martin, Adventure Tourism Expert; Dan Sandoval, Co-Founder, Perspective China; Deeya Bajaj, Director of Operations and Business Development, Snow Leopard Adventures; Jessica Yew, Co-founder & Director, Sticky Rice Travel; Erik Wolf, Founder & Executive Director, The World Food Travel Association; Leila Calnan, Sustainable Tourism Expert, Chemonics International; Sarah Mathews, Group Head of Destination Marketing APAC, Tripadvisor; Jeremy Sampson, CEO, The Travel Foundation; Graham Harper, Special Advisor for Sustainability & Social Responsibility, PATA; Ann Dumaliang, Managing Trustee, Masungi Georeserve Foundation; Andreas Hofmann, Project Manager, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ); Dr. Trevor Girard, Director of Standards & Accreditation, Hotel Resilient; Jessie F. McComb, Tourism Specialist, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bob Zozobrado, Chairman, PATA Philippines Chapter and Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA.

The speakers will be examining such topics as "The Re-Generation Opportunity", "Delivering what the next generation of adventure travellers want", "Can local cuisine drive travel recovery?", "Ensuring a more equal recovery", "The future of online experiences", "Putting our communities first", and "Resiliency is the new sustainability".

In addition to the conference elements, the virtual B2B trade sessions will offer pre-matched appointments based upon requests and matched according to time zone, supported by video calls, text and voice chat. Furthermore, there will be further networking opportunities at the interactive networking breaks which will include various games and quizzes.

Complimentary registration is open for all virtual visitors at https://www.pata.org/atcm-2021-register. For more information about the event, visit www.PATA.org/atcm-2021-overview or email events@PATA.org.