Asia Pacific tourism leaders kick off annual meeting in Sri Lanka

Tourism industry leaders from Asia Pacific, the world’s biggest and fastest growing region for leisure business, will kick off today a four-day annual discourse and celebrations in Sri Lanka, giving the host a fresh boost to its improving profile.  

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will hold its Executive Board meeting for the 2016/17 financial year today followed by a key two-day summit tomorrow at Jetwing Blue, Negombo. On Sunday, the PATA’s 2017 Annual Meeting will be held followed by the first meeting of the new 2017/18 Executive Board. 

PATA provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 95 Government, state and city tourism bodies, 29 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 63 educational institutions and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond.

The Executive Board meeting will be followed by a PATA Executive Board dinner as well as a PATA Life Member get-together. In the morning the PATA Youth Symposium will be held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management in Colombo.

Asia Pacific destinations last year welcomed a record 597 million foreign visitors in 2016. 

The two-day summit under the theme ‘Disruption. Innovation. Transformation: The Future of Tourism’ will be inaugurated by Tourism Minister John Amaratunga. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai and PATA Chairman Andrew Jones will be present as well.

The popular PATA Annual Awards will be held on Friday followed by a high-level UNWTO/PATA Ministerial Debate focusing on a ‘Shift to recognised sustainability leadership in the travel and tourism industry’ as well as ‘Sharing economy and travel and tourism’ which will be held on Saturday. 

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), the event’s hosts, said a large number of representatives from 34 countries will participate in multiple events. 

The event will highlight issues related to sustainability and sharing economy, while disruptive innovation, marketing and research innovation, youth engaged in disruptive tourism, poverty and migration will also be discussed.