Tourism | MGTO participates in PATA Annual Summit 2017

The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) participated in the 2017 Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Summit in Sri Lanka.

Hosted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, the PATA Annual Summit was held in Negombo, Sri Lanka from May 18 to 21.

Under the theme “Disruption. Innovation. Transformation: The Future of Tourism,” the four-day Summit featured a series of panel discussions, a ministerial debate between leading industry experts, the PATA Annual General Meeting and the PATA Youth Symposium in addition to other meetings and activities that were part of the program this year.

As one of the members of the PATA Executive Board, MGTO head Helena de Senna Fernandes attended a series of meetings and activities at the Summit including a one-day conference, the UNWTO/PATA Ministerial Debate, the PATA Executive Board Meeting, the PATA Board Meeting and the PATA Annual General Meeting.

Both the new chairman and vice chairman of PATA were elected on Sunday.

Sarah Mathews became the newly elected PATA chairman and Chris Bottrill became the new PATA vice chairman, as cited in a statement issued by MGTO.

The summit gathered innovative speakers and leaders from the travel industry to exchange and share forward-thinking perspectives to inspire the advancement of the tourism industry.

Topics of discussion related specifically to new ideas regarding market-transforming innovations, destination growth management, the sharing economy and its influence, and comparison between traditional and digital marketing strategies.

PATA’s other major event, the PATA Travel Mart 2017, will be held in Macau from September 13 to 15.