BANGKOK, 29 April 28, 2021: The Pacific Asia Travel Association named Liz Ortiguera as its next chief executive officer at the close of the association’s board meeting on Wednesday.
A well-known travel specialist, she will join the PATA team on 17 May to succeed Mario Hardy, who departs the association at the end of May after 10 years with PATA, including six as its CEO.
“She will be the first Asian American female CEO in PATA’s 70-year history,” stated PATA chair Soon-Hwa Wong. “The executive board looks forward to working closely with her as we rebuild a more resilient, responsible, sustainable and stronger travel and tourism industry.”
Ortiguera said, “I am honoured to be selected as the next PATA CEO… PATA is even more critical as a business community today to support new partnerships, innovation, and the adoption of sustainable business practices.”
She arrives at the PATA’s CEO office from an expatriate home base in Singapore with over 25 years of global experience in management, having worked in several industries such as travel/lifestyle, technology, financial services, and pharmaceuticals.
She has worked for multinational corporations, including American Express and Merck, and start-up environments in software as a service (SaaS), e-commerce, and, more recently, ed-tech. For 10 years, she was the general manager for Amex’s Travel Partner Network in Asia-Pacific.
She is currently EVP, Global Head of Marketing and Partnerships at the Singapore office of Gnowbe – an EdTech, microlearning platform delivering business enablement, staff engagement, and e-learning content.
As for other travel-related activities, she is also listed as a mentor for Atlas River Consulting as its travel specialist in marketing hotels and travel content who acts as an ambassador to several NGOs and has launched her own travel charity start-up. The consulting firm has offices in Singapore, Thailand and Sri Lanka and concentrates on branding, start-ups, mystery shopper and other services linked to education and training in travel and hospitality.
