The PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart 2019 will be held in Rishikesh, in the state of Uttarakhand, India, from February 13 to 15.

This was announced in Delhi on August 5 by PATA CEO Mario Hardy at the opening of the Tourism PowerHouse 2018 where he spoke on the subject of the Impact of the Visitor Economy, raising several interesting and topical issues before delegates from India and abroad.

Mario also listed some of the other 20 events in which PATA is involved in during the year.
John Koldowski, long-time PATA associate, spoke on the trends and opportunities, giving figures and facts and pointing out that Asia will be in greater focus in years to come than Europe and the US.

Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, listed some of the achievements saying that marketing is being focused at the niche and regional levels so that the needs of the generating markets are met. She said the air capacity expansion through UDAN was a big help in tourism. More arrivals had meant more budget and hence spending and more on marketing and infrastructure.

She asked the States to undertake studies on carrying capacities and focus on core areas for marketing, rather than promoting everything.

PATA India Secretary J. Taneja and ED Runeep Sangha lauded the initiatives of the Ministry of Tourism. Amit Thakran from CAPA called for greater focus on the China market.

Tomorrow, the Tourism Power House, a PATA India Initiative, will take place. It will cover digital marketing, disruptive tourism, and luxury tourism trends.