The Pacific Asia Travel Association is calling upon all industry stakeholders from both the public and private sector to work more closely together towards the recovery of the travel and tourism industry.

“Covid-19 is the greatest single crisis in the history of travel and tourism.

“Now, more than ever, the industry needs to work together to provide a coordinated, unified and transparent path forward towards recovery.

“A fractured approach will leave our industry forfeiting many issues to health and security authorities, and the implications can be disastrous,” said PATA chief executive, Mario Hardy

He added: “While the current pandemic is first and foremost a public health issue, we must engage stakeholders across all industries and highlight the importance of travel and tourism’s economic contributions to destinations, communities and people, as well as its close links to trade and community development.

“We must also acknowledge our environmental and social responsibilities, commit to sustainable practices and support every practical measure that seeks to reduce the effects of climate change, while contributing valid and pertinent ideas and activities to assist in the rapid, robust, and responsible renewal of the travel and tourism Industry.”

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, PATA has been in regular discussions with various industry organisations, partners and associations to work towards this the goal.

One such result of these discussions had been the launch of the expanded PATA Crisis Resource Centre, created with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Through consultation with other potential partners, PATA hopes to add further resources that will be useful to organisations as they deal with the current situation.

The expanded CRC provides action-oriented interactive multimedia content that is focused on crisis preparedness, management, and recovery for destinations and other tourism enterprises across the Asia Pacific.

The various public tools available on the site, including the recovery planner, crisis communication kits, and case studies, provide a unified resource for both public and private industry stakeholders to work together in a more coordinated manner.

More Information

For more information about the recovery planner and recovery toolkits available on the Crisis Resource Centre, join destination marketing and crisis management expert Damian Cook for a PATA webinar on ‘Travel Restart: Policy vs Reality’ on Thursday, August 13th at 3:00 PM ICT.

The webinar will examine if the industry has created a genuinely enabling environment for travel to reopen that will work for both travellers and the trade, or has it simply been a process dictated by policy or strategy.

Register for the webinar here.