Tag Archives: PATA CEO Mario Hardy

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) welcomes Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (TDA) as its newest government member. The TDA’s aim is to establish the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah as a destination for leisure and adventure travel whilst maintaining its appeal for sun seekers, beach loving couples and families. PATA CEO Mario Hardy said, “As our newest government member Ras Al Khaimah now has a much better opportunity to achieve their growth target of 2.9m visitors by 2025 by connecting with many of our members and by showcasing their destination to a much broader audience. The emirate also now enjoys access to our insightful research and expertise to assist in them developing a sustainable and responsible tourism industry. This is particularly relevant for the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority in their bid to highlight the many authentic cultural, historical and natural Arabian experiences.” Haitham Mattar, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah TDA said, “As we continue to work towards our goal of attracting one million visitors by the end of 2018, we are keen to establish partnerships that will enable us to achieve sustainable tourism growth. Asia Pacific, in particular India and China, are fast growing emerging markets where we have recently signed an agreement with Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, as well as Cox and Kings in India. Becoming a member of PATA is a key step towards further establishing Ras Al Khaimah as a tourist destination in its own right amongst Asia Pacific travellers and investors.” Ras Al Khaimah TDA was established in May 2011 to develop the emirate’s tourism infrastructure and promote it, both domestically and abroad.  In order to achieve its goals, the …

The next edition of the PATA Annual Summit (PAS) 2017 will take place in Negombo, Sri Lanka from May 18 -21, 2017. The PATA Annual Summit 2016 was held in Guam and welcomed 640 delegates from 206 organisations representing 33 countries to the four day event.  PATA CEO Mario Hardy stressed on the issue of climate change and stated, “We understand that the Pacific Islands are at a critical junction in its future development economically, socially and environmentally, especially with the growing effects of climate change. We hope that bringing together high level speakers, we can highlight these issues as well as analyse and share ideas on how to create a more sustainable and responsible travel and tourism industry,” he added. The four day event witnessed several high-level industry leaders give talks on various tourism-related topics like ‘Driving Solo or Following the Pack’, ‘Mastering the Skill of Future Trend Forecast’; ‘Defy the Norms to Create ‘Same Same But Different’; ‘The New Edge – Foreseeing New Travel Patterns’ &‘Reversing the Brain Drain by Mixing the Borders’, while delegates gained additional insights about the latest travel and tourism industry trends during PATA Marketplace. Other highlights of the four-day event included the PATA Awards Presentation, the election of the new PATA Executive Board and the presentation of the Silver-level Sustainability Certification by EarthCheck.

PATA CEO Mario Hardy and John Koldowski, Member Tourism Action Group, Thamassat University Thailand, will deliver a seminar on April 5, 2016 at The Park New Delhi, to help prepare tourism stakeholders for future growth, opportunities and challenges. Together with luminaries from UNWTO, WTTC, IATA, ICAO and World Economic Forum amongst others, PATA is engaged in building Tourism Advocacy across the world to ensure that Tourism is at the forefront of strengthening the global Visitor Economy. While Hardy is optimistic about the growing role and contribution of tourism in world economies, he will focus on how markets can get their fair share of this growth as well as address, both present day and futuristic challenges and opportunties. Hardy leads PATA’s charge at the Global Travel Association Coalition. John Koldowski, former Deputy CEO of PATA, is regarded as one of the leading analysts of the travel & tourism sector. He specialises in analysis and interpretation of information regarding movements and trends in the tourism sector based on emerging consumer preferences and destination development. Koldowski will share his in depth knowledge of the impact of global trends on Asia Pacific tourism.