PATA unveils 8-point tourism recovery plan

 

To support Asia-Pacific’s tourism industry in rebounding from the Covid-19 crisis, PATA has announced its 8-Point Industry Recovery Plan to address both the immediate and strategic needs of its members and the broader industry.

1. PATA Crisis Resource Center
Launched in May 2020, this resource centre is available to all travel sector members and provides various playbooks for various industries ranging from aviation to hospitality, covering several topics including communications resources and sector resource kits.

2. Government members-only roundtable
Earlier this month, PATA launched a roundtable series to share insights and exchange ideas across destinations on restarting travel. The first session of this series featured presentations by select destinations, including Hawaii, the Maldives, and Thailand. The second session just held on August 17 featured COVAX/UNICEF with a briefing on vaccine equity, deployment measures and community acceptance strategies.

In the coming weeks and months, PATA will continue to support its destination members by sourcing subject matter experts and supporting a pan-regional and global dialogue to support the industry recovery.

3. Innovation Workshop Series and Innovation Hub for members
PATA has just launched an Innovation Series of workshop-style webinars designed to deliver practical information to members. Upcoming topics will range from digital marketing, Covid-19 safety best practices, leadership and resiliency skills, destination development, and more.

PATA’s website now also features the Travel Innovations Hub, comprising crowd-sourced travel innovation ideas from around the globe, designed to engage and inspire its members.

4. Ongoing industry trends and forecasts for members
With the ever-changing status of multiple elements influencing tourism recovery, PATA recognises the need for frequent and diverse expert-advised trends and forecast reporting. Through live webinars and research reports supported by its vast network of industry experts, PATA will continue to regularly deliver expert-sourced intelligence reporting to keep members informed.

5. Vaccine equity initiative supporting COVAX/UNICEF
A foundational element to tourism recovery is vaccine equity, deployment, and acceptance across the region and beyond. As such, PATA is supporting the COVAX/UNICEF initiative in the form of advocacy, industry education, fundraising and, if required, logistics sourcing.

6. PATA global community connection
Like the rest of the world, PATA has pivoted from offline/real-life interactions at physical events to online webinars. The association has started hosting hybrid events and will continue to deliver in-destination physical events wherever possible; and complement it by leveraging technology platforms and content to bring its members together globally and in smaller forums to support their business development.

7. Knowledge share and collaboration with global organisations
PATA is in regular collaboration with World Bank, ADB, GIZ and other development organisations and consulting firms on industry leading topics to support the recovery. The association regularly engages with the global tourism and travel task force meetings along with leaders from WTTC, IATA, ACI, WEF, ICAO and others.

8. PATA’s destination resilience initiative
In conjunction with GIZ, the programme initiated development in June with PATA project managing an expert team of 20 subject matter experts. This framework addresses the pillars for resilience including: environment, economy, community, visitors and health & safety. The pilot will be launched in four PATA member destinations.

-TTG Asia.