ITB Berlin News 2019 - Day 1 Edition

BROUGHT
TO YOU BY
ASIA
REGION
51
Dr Mario Hardy
CEO, PATA
MEKONG TOURISM FORUM:
FILM TOURISM AND VISUAL
STORYTELLING
Category: Deep Dive Sessions
Date: Today, March 6, 2019
Time: 3pm - 3:45pm
Location: CityCube Berlin,
Cube Club
Continued growth in Asia…
that’s no surprise!
PATA CEO Dr Mario Hardy talks about the future of his organisation,
and that of tourism in the region
PATA CEO Dr Mario Hardy has been four and
a half years at the helm of the organisation
now. We asked him what he sees as being the
“journey” for PATA for the coming years, and
what his “vision” is in this respect.
Four years ago, PATA
started on a journey of
becoming financially
sustainable which we have
now achieved. Moving
forward, our focus is about
increasing PATA’s influence
and thought leadership,
as well as taking a strong
stance when we see threats
or injustice in our sector.
Most importantly, our
mission has and will always
be about increasing our
members engagement with
the tourism sector at large
and between members in
general.
What are the key findings
of your “Asia Pacific Visitor
Forecasts 2019-2023”?
It would not be a surprise
if I told you that we see
“growth” across the Asia
Pacific region over the
next five years. However,
it is fair to say that it is
uneven growth, as some
destinations are on the
verge of having too much
while others suffer from
“undertourism”. The latter
is especially true for the
islands of the Pacific due
to their remoteness and
accessibility challenges.
Should APAC nations be
trying to diversify more in
their source markets?
At the recent ASEAN
Tourism Forum in Ha Long
Bay, Vietnam, I had the
opportunity to highlight
to the ASEAN tourism
ministers the pressing
need for diversifying their
source markets. I asked
them to play a simple
exercise by taking their
number one source market
and removing it from the
equation, then see what
impact it would have on
their tourism economy.
Why is this important,
because we have seen in
recent time how political
and economic shifts can
affect tourism arrivals into
a destination. Like any good
investment advisor would
tell you, diversification and
a balanced portfolio are
key to a good investment
portfolio, the same theory
applies here.
How is the Chinese
outbound market
expected to evolve in the
coming years? What will
be the main trends?
The overall Chinese
outbound market is still
on the rise despite the
economic slowdown in
China. We have seen a
decline of Chinese tourism
arrivals in certain markets,
in some instances this
may be temporary while
in others it is driven by a
simple shift in interest of
the Chinese consumer.
In the future, we will see
an increasing amount of
Chinese FIT with a desire
to be more adventurous in
their choice of destinations.
One of your favourite
topics is AI. Why so?
I am curious by nature
and fascinated by the
possibilities of AI in
solving real-world human
challenges, and equally
concerned that humans
may use AI for the wrong
purpose. My fascination
with the tech world is
beyond my day job at PATA,
however, AI is already
starting to make an impact
on the tourism sector.
The tech to watch is voice
assistance and how it will
soon be an integral part of
our daily life.
THE TECH
TO WATCH IS
VOICE
ASSISTANCE
AND HOW IT
WILL SOON BE
AN INTEGRAL
PART OF OUR
DAILY LIFE.
What activities are planned
for PATA’s presence at ITB
Berlin?
PATA is once again
addressing innovative
and relevant topics that
will be of interest to PATA
members and industry
colleagues at a seminar on
Thursday, March 7 at 10:30
- 14:00 hrs at the Grosser
Stern, Room Hong Kong
(Fairground). The seminar
on ‘Leveraging Best Practice
Branding and Marketing to
Attract Higher-Value Travel
Consumers’ is comprised
of two sessions on ‘Digital
KPIs Every Destination
Marketer Should Embrace
in 2019’ and ‘Utilizing
Destination Brands to
Attract Higher Value Travel
Consumers’.
The first session, presented
by ADARA Vice-President
of Resort & Destination
Analytics, Ted Sullivan,
will focus on moving
beyond traditional KPIs
to improve marketing
effectiveness. The second
session, delivered by
Oliver Martin, Partner at
Twenty31 Consulting, will
examine how destinations
can position their unique
selling points so that
they can succeed in this
increasingly digitized world
and will include panellists
from leading destinations
around the world. The
session will be immediately
followed by lunch in the
same venue
ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 6 th March 2019