The Pacific Asia Travel Association UK & Ireland has expanded its annual travel trade event following the cancellation of the in-person ITB show in Berlin.
The Pata Exchange will take place on March 14 at The Tower Guoman Hotel in London.
The association has added more appointments for new buyers and sellers because there won’t be an opportunity to meet face-to-face in Berlin in early March.
Organisers of ITB confirmed in December that the Berlin event will not take place in-person for the third year running because of the ongoing pandemic.
Matt McCausland, Pata’s account director, said: “With the cancellation of in-person ITB Berlin and continuing uncertainty meaning that lots of similar, well-established trade shows have had to be repurposed as virtual, Pata Exchange is set to kick off 2022 as the biggest in-person contracting day currently confirmed.”
Held with Travel Uni, the one-day Pata event connects buyers and sellers from across the Asia Pacific region.
Its appointments system gives UK and Ireland-based agents and buyers the opportunity to meet key sellers from the Asia Pacific region.
More than 70 suppliers have confirmed their attendance, including tourism boards, hotels, airlines, cruise lines, destination management companies and representation companies.
Also attending are Pata’s newest members: Japan San, CV Villas, Classic Sri Lanka and Samujana