Travel industry leaders will issue a rallying call for politicians and government policy makers around the world to start "Embracing the Complete Visitor Economy" at the PATA Annual Summit, which takes place Friday April 26 in Bangkok.

Mr Martin J Craigs, PATA CEO said: "If you want the travel and tourism industry to be respected more, given more budget from Government sources, and taxed less, we need to make the case forcefully. You are invited to join the PATA Annual Summit to add your voice to the uprising that's underway in the travel industry across the world."

An impressive list of speakers will add their weight to the complete visitor economy agenda. From Associations, Organisations and NGOs, Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the UNWTO and speaker from WTTC will be there; from Government, Gloria Guevara, Former Secretary of Tourism, Mexico; Chen Tiejun, Deputy Director General, Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission; from the private sector, Abid Butt, CEO Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, Ross Jackson, Head of Cross-Border Business, APCEMEA, Visa Inc; Lothar R Pehl, SVP Operations and Global Initiatives, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific; Martin Verdon Roe, Global VP, Display Sales, TripAdvisor; Pansy Ho, Managing Director, Shun Tak Holdings; Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports, UAE; Sorajak Kasemsuvan, President, Thai Airways International; Anita Mendiratta, Managing Director - CACHET Consulting/Lead consultant of the CNN TASK Group, and many more, will all contribute their insights. TV anchor Monita Rajpal of CNN will moderate.

Mr Abid Butt, Chief Executive Officer, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts said: "Governments and the public sector around the world have recognised the importance of the visitor economy with reforms being introduced to enhance this economic component. The importance of all links understanding their role in this economic chain cannot be overstated. The ability to attract foreign visitors and their contribution to the local communities makes it a great enabler for all countries. It creates and supports employment at all skill levels, helps preserve local heritage and builds a strong sense of place, providing better understanding across different cultures. The benefits are not limited to economic gains but include social advantages, creating better places to live and work. I am glad to be participating in this dialogue coordinated by PATA to further highlight the important role of the complete visitor economy."

There will be four concurrent interactive sessions on corporate social responsibility, facilitating and balancing safety and security, human capital development, and medical tourism integration to the complete visitor economy.

Speakers include Andrew Jones, Guardian, Sanctuary Resorts; Nicole Häusler M.A., CSR Expert, Myanmar Masterpiece; Bert van Walbeek, Managing Director, The Winning Edge; Peter Semone, Chief Technical Advisor, Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (LANITH); Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Dr. Edward P Dramberger, Principal, Destination Dr., International Hospitality Consulting; Prof. Zadok S Lempert, Chief Executive, Panorama-Medica Group; and Olivier Jager, Co-Founder & CEO, FowardKeys, Traveller Data Intelligence.

Registration is now open. Fees for the 2013 PATA Annual Summit are US$699 per person for PATA members, US$899 for Chapter members, and US$1,299 for non-members. Special rates for Young Tourism Professionals and students apply. Package prices including the PATA Annual Summit, the PATA Youth Forum and Digital Innovation Asia, which take place the same week, are also available.

For further information, contact [email protected] or visit http://www.pata.org/events/pata-annual-summit-2013-pas. Click here to view brochure.

About PATA

Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, which including government, state and city tourism bodies; international airlines and airports; hospitality organisations, and educational institutions, as well as thousands of young tourism professional (YTP) members across the world. The PATA network also embraces the grassroots activism the PATA Chapters and Student Chapters, who organise numerous travel industry training programmes and business development events across the world. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 32 local PATA Chapters worldwide, while hundreds of students are members of the 28 PATA Student Chapters globally. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members' desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA's Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing and London. Visit www.PATA.org.

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