Malaysia to bid for PATA Annual Conference 2012

PATA will again stage its annual conference in 2012, and already one country has expressed interest in hosting the event, which returned this month after a five-year break. PATA chairman Hiran Cooray said the conference was resurrected due to popular demand. The four-day event drew 1,000 participants across 66 countries and regions, with international delegates comprising almost half of the attendees. He added that the association would soon be inviting bids from countries who were interested to host next year's instalment. Said Cooray: “We are looking at the format of a conference alongside other meetings conducted concurrently to satisfy the requirements of all our members.” Tourism Malaysia acting director general Dato' Azizan Noordin told TTG Asia e-Daily that Malaysia plans to contest as host, adding that the country's strength was its value-for-money proposition. He said having a conference of this nature would also educate the local trade on latest trends and create more awareness for tourism in Malaysia. Hot topics at this year's conference were about education, training and raising the industry's profile. Azizan added that he planned to have discussions on digital marketing, as well as involve more low-cost carriers. “It's been a long time since the PATA conference was held in Malaysia,” said Anthony Wong, group managing director, Asian Overland Services Tourism & Hospitality Group, adding that the last time was during PATA's 50th anniversary in 2001. “We intend to bid and hopefully we'll have more Chapters joining us next year,” he added. -TTG Asia.