The Pacific Asia
Travel Association (PATA)
officially launched its Rapid
Recovery Task Force (PRRT)
at theassociation's Engagement Hub
at its head office in Bangkok on January 31.
The
PRRT is a standing task force of the PATA CEO and
seven volunteers who
will collectively try to help PATA member destinations during
and after times of crisis,
such as SARS, floods, tsunamis, disease outbreaks and terrorist
incidents, all of which have had a massive impact on
Asia Pacific destinations in the last 10 years or so.
The objective is to help destinations return to ‘normal'
as quickly as possible.
Led
by Mr Bert van Walbeek, Managing Director of Thailand-based
consultancy The Winning Edge, and Chairman of PATA Thailand Chapter,
the fledgling PRRT has already been instrumental in relaying
important travel advisories, contending biased media reports, and
helping rebuild consumer confidence. The Japan earthquake and tsunami
of March 2011 and the Thailand flood crisis in 2011 are two
examples.
Members
of the taskforce include, in alphabetical order:
• Emma
Cashmore, Managing Director, Axis Travel Marketing, London
• Martin
J Craigs, PATA CEO, Bangkok
• Walt
Judas, Vice President Marketing Communications, Tourism Vancouver
• Alexander
Kesper, Security and Safety Executive, Bali Hotels Association,
Denpasar
• Ken
Scott, Managing Director, ScottAsia Communications, Bangkok
• Rick
Vogel, President, Include Ltd, Tokyo
The
PRRT will receive direct updates from the afflicted destination(s)
and PATA's Strategic Intelligence Centre during a major crisis.
The
PRRT Chairman, Mr van Walbeek told media at the launch: “The
complete visitor economy is so vital to jobs and people's well being
that having tourists stay away for a prolonged period can cause
untold additional damage – over and above the negative impact of
the original crisis. The skilled crisis professionals
on the PRRT will work closely with the impacted destination to
restore normalcy as soon as possible.”
Mr
Martin Craigs, PATA CEO said: “Countering misleading information in
media and social media is a key element of the PRRT brief. Perception
is reality. The visitor economies in the PATA region have been made
painfully aware of this on numerous occasions.”
The
launch event was concluded with a webinar in which Mr van Walbeek and
Dr. David Beirman outlined the history, preparation and set-up of the
new volunteer task force.
