The PATA 2017 conference hosted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will be held from May18-21 at the Jetwing Blue, Negombo.
This year’s summit will carry the theme ‘Disruption, Innovation, Transformation; the future of tourism’ and will include a number of speakers and panelists to discuss the subjects. This event which brings together travel and tourism trade’s most renowned international representatives, thereby creating a great opportunity to discuss global issues such as poverty, climate change and migration issues where over one million people cross borders. The Minister of Tourism Development, Lands and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga described the PATA annual conference in Sri Lanka as a vote of confidence in the country’s rapidly developing tourism industry.
“Last year the World Tourism Organization held an international conference in Sri Lanka. This was followed by the French Travel Agents conference and now we have PATA holding their annual conference in Sri Lanka.
What better vote of confidence can Sri Lanka ask for from the global tourism authorities? I do hope the international travel community takes due note of these endorsements,” he said.
The four-day event comprises a number of workshops and meetings, where industry leaders and government leaders will discuss on “the shift to recognized sustainability leadership and “sharing economy in travel and tourism” which will be a highlighted at the event to enhance the fields of travel and tourism.
Among the topics to be discuss at the event are managing disruption through innovation, the transformation of marketing, research innovation, disrupting the travel industry and the real future of tourism.
The PATA is a non-profit organization which is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to and from within the Asia Pacific region.
It consists of 95 government, State and city tourism bodies, 29 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 63 educational institutions and a large number of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific. Thirty four countries are participating at the PATA conference including Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, USA and UK.
Sri Lanka earned US $ 3.5 billion from the tourism industry last year with a target of $ 4 billion this year. The tourist arrivals topped the 2.1 million mark last year and it is expected to cross 2.5 million this year. International travel is expected to double from one billion to two billion travelers by 2030. There is an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent in international travel at present.