PATA CEO, Interconnectedness Has Made Us Grow and Strong

Bangkok (Thailand), April 3, 2020 /travelindex.com/ It is unprecedented in our lives to experience such uncertainty and vulnerability as a society, and never before has our industry been impacted so heavily and so comprehensively. Clearly this global crisis will change us and what we do. While I am no more qualified than the next to predict what this will mean to our future and the future of travel and tourism, what I would like to convey is that it is our interconnectedness as an industry that has made us grow and kept us strong for so long. It is these connections that will help us emerge from this together. With this in mind, I hope our PATA community is of value to you in these challenging times.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share some updates concerning the Association, and some initiatives we are taking to help you during the current COVID-19 crisis on our industry.

Due to the postponement of the 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the PATA Annual Summit 2020 in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, the PATA Board has confirmed the extension of PATA Officers and the PATA Executive Board to a re-scheduled 69th AGM at the currently scheduled Leshan Board meetings from September 3-6, 2020. The PATA Board has also confirmed that the term of elected PATA Officers will be extended for a total 18-month period from September 2020 to May 2022. For those of you currently nominated for Officer or Executive Board positions in the recent call for elections, “Kay” – Kornchalee Tantimongkonsakul will soon be in contact to confirm your availability to stand for this altered time period. Thank you to those that are willing to commit your time and energy to the Association. We are also committed to the re-organisation of PATA to strengthen the performance and outcomes of the Association into the future, and we will present bylaw changes at the September meeting. PATA will send the notice of the rescheduled AGM 45 days in advance to PATA members.

Please note that if we are unable to hold the meetings in Leshan. we will then organise the AGM online through the Zoom meeting platform software. In addition, we are also looking at alternative solutions regarding the organisation of PATA Travel Mart 2020. Of course, we all hope that conditions will improve, and we will be able to hold the event as planned.

Furthermore, you may have also seen the recent announcement regarding of the newly launched PATA Crisis Resource Center and Tourism Recovery Monitor. This collaborative effort amongst our members and partners is designed to collate reliable data and information to assist all industry stakeholders as they deal with the current crisis. These websites accumulate knowledge, generate support, and help members and industry stakeholders across the globe access solutions by governments, while also assisting governments in understanding the challenges through the travel impact survey. This initiative is a result of pilot Expert Task Forces (ETFs) that are a core component of our new organizational model. I would like to thank our experts that contributed to these initiatives.

I wanted to also take this opportunity to inform you that the Executive Board has made the decision to extend Dr. Mario Hardy’s CEO’s contract to May 31st, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On behalf of everyone at PATA, I would like to thank Mario for agreeing to the extension of his term and for providing steady, on-going leadership to the Association. We will begin searching for a new CEO in September 2020.

Finally, we are also pleased to confirm that the re-scheduled PATA Annual Summit in Ras Al Khaimah will be held on March 23-26, 2021. We want to convey our appreciation to the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority for their commitment and support.

This time is tough for many of us across the sector. Therefore, I encourage all of you to reach out and check in with each other in our PATA community. It’s an important time to do this. It’s caring for each other’s well-being and sense of community amongst us that makes PATA special.