IFT is to welcome on 13 September the PATA Youth Symposium 2017. It will be the second time the Institute has hosted an edition of the initiative. The first time was in September 2010.
The PATA Youth Symposium – by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) – aims to enable higher education students and young professionals to engage with tourism industry leaders. It features plenary sessions and round-table discussions on various topics relevant to tourism and hospitality.
The symposium, a half-day forum, will be held at the Grand Hall, at IFT Main Campus. It is part of the PATA Travel Mart 2017, an event to be held in Macao from 13 to 15 September, and hosted by the Macao Government Tourism Office at the Venetian Macao integrated resort.
The PATA Travel Mart is the association’s signature event and one of Asia Pacific’s top travel trade shows. Last year’s edition, which took place in Indonesia, attracted 1,358 delegates from 63 destinations, facilitating more than 10,000 business appointments via a pre-event matching service.
The PATA Youth Symposium 2017’s theme is: “Enabling Travel and Managing a Complex Future”.
One of the highlights of the forum will be a talk by the Group Chief Executive Officer of low cost airline AirAsia, Mr. Tony Fernandes. He will discuss the air carrier’s development, and the role the firm has been playing in offering air travel to an ever-greater number of customers.
Other speakers at the PATA Youth Symposium include:
- Dr. Mario Hardy – CEO, PATA;
- Dr. Chris Bottrill – Vice Chairman, PATA;
- Dr. Fanny Vong – President, IFT;
- Ms. Rika Jean-François – Commissioner ITB Corporate Social Responsibility, Competence Centre Travel & Logistics, ITB Berlin;
- Ms. JC Wong, Young Tourism Professional Ambassador, PATA.
Speakers will discuss topics such as artificial intelligence and automation in the tourism industry, and responsible travel.
PATA was founded in 1951 and is a non-profit, membership-based association dedicated to enabling responsible development of the Asia-Pacific travel and tourism industry. Its membership includes: 95 government, state and city tourism bodies; 29 international airlines, airports and cruise lines; 63 educational institutions; and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond.
IFT has been a member of PATA since the Institute was established in 1995. The Institute has on 2 occasions been recognised with a Gold Award in Education and Training by PATA.
