Leaders
of the Complete Visitor Economy will gather for the 2013 PATA Annual
Summit (2013PAS) in Bangkok, April 25-28, 2013.
The
PATA Youth Forum will commence on Thursday, April 25, followed by the
one-day summit on Friday April 26, and the PATA Board meetings and
AGM on April 27-28 respectively.
Under
the theme “Embracing the Complete Visitor Economy”, speakers from
the public and private sector at the summit will show the
considerable impact and social and economic reach of the complete
visitor economy.
Lothar
R Pehl, Senior Vice President Operations and Global Initiatives
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific said: “Connecting the
Complete Visitor Economy (CVE) across functions and cultures is an
all-encompassing subject designed to bring countries immigration,
transportation, tourism and hospitality industry leaders together
under one vision. A visitor economy requires a planned and informed
infrastructure and enables stakeholders to access resources and
functional knowledge to its collective advantage. That all sounds
easy in an industry of creativity, innovation and passion. But it is
hard work in reality based on a need to be championed by passionate
leaders. And here I look at PATA in collaboration with the Thai
Ministry of Tourism who need to craft a collective vision and
partnership.”
Anita
Mendiratta, Managing Director, Cachet Consulting & Head
Consultant of The CNN TASK Group, will address the topic, “
Strengthening Weak Links in the Visitor Economy.” She said:
"Capable of generating unprecedented levels of employment,
investment, trade, unity and understanding, the visitor economy has
become a vehicle strong enough to move nations through times of
crisis of various forms, from economic to natural, political to
environmental. To yield the greatest impact, however, it is essential
that each link in the visitor economy chain 'gets it'. They need to
understand the critical role that they play within the greater
stakeholder community so that, together, the visitor economy can be
maximised for meaningful, shared growth."
Delegates
will hear and learn from the Complete Visitor Economy speakers
including:
•
Gloria
Guevara, Former Minister of Tourism – Mexico
•
Pansy
Ho, Managing Director, Shun Tak Holdings – Hong Kong SAR
•
Lothar
R Pehl, SVP Operations and Global Initiatives Starwood Hotels and
Resorts Asia Pacific
•
Abid
Butt, CEO – Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Singapore
•
Martin
Verdon Roe – Global VP, Display Sales, TripAdvisor, UK
•
Ross
Jackson, Head of Cross-Border Business APCEMEA, Visa Inc.
•
Anita
Mendiratta, Managing Director – CACHET Consulting/ lead consultant
of the CNN T.A.S.K. Group.
Breakout
session speakers include:
•
Bert
van Walbeek, Managing Director, The Winning Edge, Thailand
•
Paul
Gibson DSO MBE, Defence Consultant, Security Risk Mitigation, UK
•
Kimberly
Weissman, Department of Homeland Security, USA
•
Gerard
Brown, Tourism Development Director, UBM Routes Ltd
•
Prof
Dr Zadok S Lempert, President, Panorama-Medica Group, Bangkok
•
Prof
Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor School of Hotel and Tourism Mgmt,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
•
Peter
Semone, Chief Technical Advisor, LANITH Lao National Institute of
Tourism and Hospitality
Another
highlight of the Forum will be the Digital Innovation Asia events,
April 23- 25 in Bangkok.
PATA
has partnered with E-Tourism Asia the producer of Digital Innovation
Asia (DIA) to stage digital events, which include the Digital
Innovation Asia Awards, Blogger Match-Up Asia, Speak-Up Asia, and the
China Boot Camp.
Next
Gen hospitality students and travel professionals are also invited to
attend the PATA Youth Forum on April 25 at Sri Burapa Auditorium,
Thammasat University - Tha Pra Chan Campus, Bangkok. Hosted by the
College of Innovation at Thammasat University, the Forum is aiming to
target 300 students and professionals. Delegates will also attend an
evening reception in Siam Center Plaza hosted by Siam Piwat Co., Ltd.
The forum will build on the recent PATA student forums held during
the PATA Annual Conference at Taylor's University in Kuala Lumpur in
2011 and Lyceum of the Philippines University, Manila in 2012.
Registration
is now open. Fees for the 2013 PATA Annual Summit are US$699 per
person for PATA members, US$899 for Chapter members, and US$1,299 for
non-members. Special rates for Young Tourism Professionals and
students will apply. Package prices including PATA Annual Summit,
PATA Youth Forum and Digital Innovation Asia are also available.
For
further information, contact events@PATA.org or
visit http://www.pata.org/events/pata-annual-summit-2013-pas.
