Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting held on Tuesday ...

2The PATA Secretariat to forward to Heiko <strong>the</strong> list <strong>of</strong> email addresses <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 2 nd Contact Person and YTP member<strong>of</strong> our member organizations.Khun Ben Montgomery, PATA HQ, informed <strong>the</strong> meeting that <strong>the</strong>y have already sent <strong>the</strong> e-Newsletter to allPATA members worldwide.The PATA Secretariat to follow up with Brian Sinclair-Thompson for <strong>the</strong> membership list <strong>of</strong> BAR.Education <strong>Committee</strong> –Luzi requested that <strong>the</strong> PATA Secretariat should check <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EDIT Scholarship Programme so that <strong>the</strong>Education <strong>Committee</strong> can prepare a project for one student to be submitted for consideration by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Executive</strong><strong>Committee</strong>.Joan informed <strong>the</strong> meeting that it is planned to <strong>of</strong>fer 5 sponsorships for mid-management staff <strong>of</strong> our memberorganizations as well as 2 sponsorships for university students at <strong>the</strong> “Quality or Quantity” Seminar.2. <strong>Committee</strong> ReportsEducation <strong>Committee</strong>“Quality or Quantity” Seminar, January 23 rd , 2009In <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> Bert van Walbeek Joan reported that Bert has requested that <strong>the</strong> “Quality or Quantity” Seminar bepostponed until <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> February 2009 as he has not been able to send out invitations to international speakers whowill be sponsored by <strong>the</strong> TAT.The meeting decided that we will have our AGM Luncheon <strong>Meeting</strong> with a guest speaker on January 21 st , 2009.Membership <strong>Committee</strong>In <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> Nino Jotikasthira, Chairman, Membership <strong>Committee</strong>, Joan reported to <strong>the</strong> meeting that we haveended <strong>the</strong> year with a total <strong>of</strong> 97 member organizations with only one organisation with pending membership fees –Mono Travel and Luzi will follow up on this matter.The meeting decided that due to <strong>the</strong> economic downturn which is expected in 2009 worldwide, we will inform ourmembers that we will not increase our memberships.We will also <strong>of</strong>fer any organisation which pays <strong>the</strong>ir 2009 Membership Fees by March 2009 that <strong>the</strong>ir staff will beable to apply for five free registrations for <strong>the</strong> “Quality or Quantity” Seminar to be <strong>held</strong> in late February 2009.The meeting discussed how we will approach potential members from new sectors <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> travel industry i.e. diveshops, Chambers <strong>of</strong> Commerce, Dot Coms & BAR. The meeting noted that we need to <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>the</strong>m value for moneyfor <strong>the</strong>ir membership fees so we have to inform <strong>the</strong>m about <strong>the</strong> training programmes we organise throughout <strong>the</strong> year.Heiko stated that it is important that we sell <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> environment programmes for <strong>the</strong>se potential new membersfrom <strong>the</strong> dive shops. He referred to <strong>the</strong> protection <strong>of</strong> reefs through <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> old aircrafts.The meeting requested Heiko will invite a prominent member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> dive shops group to be a guest speaker a <strong>the</strong>January AGM and Luncheon <strong>Meeting</strong>. TAT will provide us with copies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir Dive Shops brochure to bedistributed at this Luncheon <strong>Meeting</strong>.The meeting also invited TAT to present <strong>the</strong>ir plans for 2009 at this Luncheon <strong>Meeting</strong> as this information will be <strong>of</strong>interest to our members and guests.