Sarah Mathews named Chairperson at Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
This week, it was made official The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) announced the election of Ms. Sarah Mathews, Head of Destination Marketing Asia Pacific – TripAdvisor based in Hong Kong SAR as Chairperson of the Association’s Executive Board. She replaces Andrew Jones who was elected Chairman in May 2016 and who remains a member of the Executive Board as Immediate Past Chairman. Sarah has been an active PATA member since TripAdvisor joined the Association in 2012, attending nearly all PATA events as either a speaker or delegate. She first joined the PATA Executive Board when she was elected the Industry Council Chairperson in 2014 and was elected Vice Chairperson in May 2016. Sarah uses her travels across the Asia Pacific region to encourage new destinations and other industry businesses to join the Association. Sarah leads the Destination Marketing Sales team at TripAdvisor, for the Asia Pacific region. The team is focused on working with and supporting all tourism boards in Asia Pacific, as well as helping local hospitality businesses better understand the impact of digital on their business. Under Sarah’s leadership, the Asia Pacific team launched the first TripAdvisor’s Destination Academy, a three-day Digital Boot camp for government organisations and the CEO Challenge, a regional campaign that supports the discovery of less well-known destinations in the region. Prior to her current role, Sarah was based in TripAdvisor’s London office as part of the Destination Marketing Sales team and was responsible for the European, Asian and African markets. During that time, she worked closely with key clients such as South Africa Tourism and Greek National Tourism Organization, sharing best practices with industry partners. Her work with South Africa Tourism on its first global strategic partnership was featured in the recent UNWTO E-Marketing Handbook. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, Sarah held MICE and international marketing positions at the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Visit Flanders, where she worked with industry partners drive awareness of both destinations. Sarah was a senior executive at Cesar Ritz Colleges in Hong Kong before that. Born and raised in Hong Kong SAR, Sarah has also lived in Beijing and Australia and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, giving her a deep understanding and appreciation of the region.
