The Pacfic Asia Travel Association (Pata) UK & Ireland plans to target further expansion as it announces three new members.
The UK & Ireland arm of the association has announced the addition of new social enterprise and travel agency Charitable Travel; luxury hotel group Santrian Resorts and Villas in Indonesia; and Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket, Thailand. It now has 26 members.
UK & Ireland chairman Chris Crampton said: “We are delighted to welcome new members, especially during these uncertain times.
“Now more than ever it is important to support one another as we navigate a return to business in the age of Covid-19 and it’s great to be able to offer our agent members a growing selection of Asia-Pacific businesses to connect with.”
The UK arm of Pata will continue to target new members as it seeks to raise its profile further in the trade, he said.
He added: “We’d love to welcome more operators and agents to further increase the B2B opportunities amongst members.”
Increase in events
Crampton said the increase in membership was in part a result of the increase in the number of Pata UK & Ireland events held each year, currently more than 20.
Discussions are currently taking place to host the annual Taste of Pata event virtually this year.
Crampton added that Charitable Travel’s ‘particularly unique’ approach would benefit members and their customers as well as boosting sales and raising awareness of causes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Charitable Travel chief executive Melissa Tilling said the company, which is focused on cause-related marketing, was attracted to Pata by the chance to interact with other members and attend events, including the Pata Exchange, Indochina Roadshow, Taste of Pata and Christmas lunch.
Tilling said: “Pata offers a platform for engagement with member destinations, tour operators, hoteliers and other commercial suppliers to share our social purpose and to encourage increased activity with and about Charitable Travel to enhance the delivery of our social purpose.
“We joined for knowledge sharing, news and information, learning opportunities and to indicate our commitment to the Pata region, standing with people and places in the region that can benefit from economic support not just from the charity but from the overall force for good that tourism can be.
Cause focus
“We want to grow tourism to the region but we want to support relevant causes and charities supporting the region at the same time by bringing areas of need to the attention of our customers but, more than that, actually raising money for UK registered charities delivering support to beneficiaries also in the Pata region.”
It has already run a charitable campaign for Cambodia with charity Just A Drop and is planning an elephant welfare campaign with The Tourism Authority of Thailand.
