BANGKOK, 14 May 2024: Sustainability is one of the overarching themes of the PATA Annual Summit 2024 that convenes this week, 15 to 17 May, in Macao, China, but there are other topics on the table PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid explains in his welcoming statement released on Monday.
“Sustainability remains a focal point but this year’s summit will delve into broader discussions, thought-provoking conversation, encompassing areas such as travel technology trends, marketing strategies, tourism policy, and cultural advancements,” he noted.
Hosted by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and co-hosted by SJM Resorts, the three-day event with the theme ‘Reimagining Tourism’ underscores the potential to usher in an unprecedented era of transformation within the Asia Pacific tourism industry that will shape travel and tourism to be more resilient and sustainable in the coming years.
Commenting on the annual summit’s recovery post-pandemic, he said: “We have achieved the highest number of delegate registrations for the PATA Annual Summit since the end of the pandemic. I am thrilled to see that when PATA members come together in full force at such a flagship event like the PATA Annual Summit, it will present an opportunity for the association to come into full form that can recalibrate the strength of what PATA is all about. We can only get stronger when we are together. Hence, it is our hope that members from across the world will seize this opportunity to find touch-points to collaborate with each other as the travel and tourism industry is recovering to its fullest potential.”
Macao Government Tourism Office Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes commented: “We are looking forward to welcoming the PATA Annual Summit 2024 and extending the best of Macao hospitality to ensure a successful event. It has been several years since our destination last staged a PATA flagship event, and it will be a great opportunity to provide delegates from across the Asia Pacific region with a first-hand experience of the new dynamic development of Macao as a world centre of tourism and leisure.”
The summit’s speaker line up includes Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director, Macao Government Tourism Office; Daisy Ho, Managing Director, SJM Resorts, S.A.; Dane Cheng, Executive Director, Hong Kong Tourism Board; Florian Sengstschmid, CEO, Azerbaijan Tourism Board; Fathmath Thaufeeq, CEO & Managing Director, Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (Visit Maldives); Manisha Saxena, Director General (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism, India; Pansy Ho, Group Executive Chairman & Managing Director, Shun Tak Holdings Limited; David Fowler, Vice President and Head, Cross-Border & Sales Excellence- Asia Pacific, Visa; Mich Goh, Head of Public Policy, Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong & Taiwan, Airbnb.
