More than 200 delegates from around the world came together in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE to build a stronger and more resilient tourism economy for the future.
The PATA Annual Summit 2022 (PAS 2022), under the theme ‘Reconnecting the World Sustainably’, opened in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE on October 25 with 237 delegates from 128 organisations and 36 destinations attending the three-day event.
Generously hosted by the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) and organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the event featured 16 main stage sessions, four breakout workshops, various destination tours, two mobile photography workshops, and a sustainability leadership forum that united 21 senior government and travel industry leaders from the public and private sector in Asia and beyond for dialogues on unique approaches towards overcoming challenges and unlocking new opportunities as the world works towards rebuilding a stronger tourism future.
“By bringing together such a diverse group of thought leaders, senior representatives from the public sector and other non-governmental organisations, we addressed the challenges and solutions to our complex and stage-wise recovery,” said PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera. “Travel and tourism will continue to be a critical contributor to the economic well-being of the Asia Pacific region and PATA remains committed to facilitating discussions and catalysing actions.”
PATA’s inaugural Travel Sustainability Leadership Forum, a closed door, invitation only session brought together travel leaders focused on holistic sustainable tourism development. The half-day forum established a travel leaders community that will ongoingly do best practice exchange, dialogue, and collaboration, with participants bringing to the roundtable dialogue their unique approaches towards overcoming challenges and unlocking new opportunities as the world rebuilds a stronger tourism future. At the same time as the forum, a range of concurrent breakout sessions on the topics of destination resilience, destination marketing and the immediate needs for MSME recovery took place.
The final day of the PATA Annual Summit opened with a virtual keynote presentation on “Empowering A Sustainable Future through Public Private Partnerships” from Pansy Ho, Group Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Shun Tak Holdings Limited. This was followed by a panel discussion on developing responsible destinations which included Steven Schipani, Principal Tourism Industry Specialist, Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB); Damià Serrano Miracle, Experience Marketing & Research Director, Catalan Tourist Board; Sharzede Datu Haji Salleh Askor, CEO, Sarawak Tourism Board; Dhananjay Regmi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, and Sione Moala-Mafi, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Tourism – Tonga, moderated by Archana Shukla, India Business Correspondent, BBC News. Other topics discussed on the final day included future leaders and the investment in human capital, supporting women in MSMEs, a keynote on global hotel industry trends by Chip Rogers, President & CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and an aviation session on the route to recovery.
