PATA summit focus on youth, new trends

PATA delegates carry out inspection visit to event venue and meeting facilities

The annual summit for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will be underway in Macau from tomorrow for three consecutive days.

According to the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the summit will gather over 400 tourism industry delegates from 30 countries and regions.

The summit’s program starts Wednesday and includes a wide range of activities, such as PATA’s Board Meeting and Chapter Congress meetings.

The summit’s main highlight is its international conference, which starts right after the opening ceremony, scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Under the theme of “Reimagining Tourism,” the conference will present a two-day program featuring over 20 sessions and more than 40 speakers from Macau, as well as many countries and regions across the world.

The conference also includes two-panel discussions, “Marketing and Branding in Asia Pacific Tourism” and “Future-Proofing Travel and Tourism Policies,” moderated by BBC News and featuring tourism heads from several destinations, including MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, who will join the first panel. 
The Economist Impact will also present an overview of the global economic landscape and its implications for the tourism sector for the next two years.

The top sessions for the second day of the conference include a “Conversation with Pansy Ho,” with PATA Chair Peter Semone interviewing the Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Shun Tak Holdings Limited.

Euromonitor International will present “Key Travel and Tourism Trends to Watch,” while PATA will unveil a report on human capital development.

Other sessions will focus on topics ranging from hotel and air travel trends to travel technology and artificial intelligence, gastronomy tourism, educational tourism, nighttime economy, and tourism synergies to diversify the economy, among others.

Other events will also be held in tandem with the summit, such as the PATA Youth Symposium, which gathers future tourism professionals from abroad and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and the PATA – World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) China Dialogue, both scheduled for Thursday morning.

Among the speakers are Semone, WTCF executive director Chen Bo, representatives from Beijing, Qingdao, Hainan, and other tourism bureaus, as well as tourism operators and academics from the mainland.

The discussion topics include the latest policies and measures for inbound tourism and digital payment for visitors, as well as the development of cross-regional travel in the GBA.

This is the first major PATA event in Macau since the pandemic, and it aims to highlight the role of Macau as a world center for tourism and leisure.