PATA to run top level intelligence workshops at PTM in Manila in September

BANGKOK, Thailand – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will present three hot issues affecting the travel and tourism industry, with workshops on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015, the e

BANGKOK, Thailand – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will present three hot issues affecting the travel and tourism industry, with workshops on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015, the emerging CIVETS markets and mTourism. As part of the PATA Travel Mart (PTM) program, the workshops will take place on September 25-28 at the SMX Convention Center, Manila, Philippines.

Martin J. Craigs, PATA CEO, said: โ€œApart from building business during PTM 2012, delegates will be empowered with insights that will help them be better prepared for upcoming marketing and technology opportunities and challenges facing the travel industry in Asia Pacific.โ€

A highlight of the workshop program is the full-day workshop entitled “Do You Know What You Need to Know โ€“ AEC 2015?โ€ With the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the economies of Southeast Asia will become a single trading bloc with 600 million people and a combined GDP of around US$1.5 trillion. The AEC will offer both opportunities for those who are prepared and threats for those who are not.

Those businesses already preparing for 2015 will be well placed to take advantage of the 120 million or so visitor arrivals expected in that year. Those less prepared will flounder in an environment of increased competition for both goods and services.

To better understand the opportunities and threats to tourism that will come with the AEC in less than three years’ time, PATA is organizing a one-day workshop to deliver information that will be vital in understanding the nuances of integrating 10 service economies into a single bloc.

Another workshop will be on “CIVETS and other Emerging Markets: The Potential for Asia Pacific.” First there were the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. But now many are looking to the CIVETS – Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa – for growth potential over the next couple of decades. If the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is correct, then these economies will grow at an average annual rate of around 4.5 percent over the next 20 years, compared to less than 2 percent for developed economies.

While their combined GDP will only amount to 20 percent of the size of the G7 nations’ combined GDP by 2030, the CIVETS are none the less, second-tier emerging markets with a number of advantages. According to the EIU: “They have relatively sophisticated financial systems and do not face runaway inflation, massive current-account deficits, or public debt.”

mTourism: How Mobile Technology is Changing Tourism
Mobile tourism (mTourism) is the use of mobile technologies, applications, and services in the tourism sector. The world is moving towards an environment where nearly every traveler is using smartphones and tablets enabled with mobile broadband. In 2012, Google projects that 8 percent of mobile users will be booking travel from their smart phones. In 2014, mobile Internet should take over desktop Internet usage. In 2016, mobile commerce is expected to grow by 55 percent. Does this make a mobile web strategy more important than a PC Web strategy? How many resources have you allocated to mTourism? Are you prepared for the mTourism revolution?

Join us in Manila:

Tuesday, September 25
Do You Know What You Need to Know โ€“ AEC 2015?
Full day: US$150 for registered buyers and sellers, US$250 non-registered

Wednesday, September 26
CIVETS and other Emerging Markets – The Potential for Asia-Pacific
1.5 hours: US$75 registered buyers and sellers, and US$95 non-registered

Thursday, September 27
mTourism: How Mobile Technology is Changing Tourism
1.5 hours: US$75 registered buyers and sellers and US$95 non-registered

Media delegates will receive waived registration fee, on a first come, first served basis.

For further information, email [email protected] or visit http://www.pata.org/events/pata-travel-mart-2012 .

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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