BANGKOK - The Pacific Asia Travel Association is calling on governments, partners, members and international and national associations and organisations to support the newly-launched PATA Crisis Resource Centre and Tourism Recovery Monitor.
Whilst the current focus is on COVID-19 as a public health issue, the goal is to establish a long-term resource centre for the industry to utilise when we face any future crisis. The travel and tourism industry is incredibly resilient, and travel will continue to inspire millions of people across the world,– PATA immediate past chair, Sarah Mathews
Crisis Resource Centre and Tourism Recovery Monitor aims to provide a global centralised repository of reliable information for users based on their needs. It will be a unified source of information for travel and tourism organisations to find solutions to the current crisis.
“While this is a much-needed resource, PATA cannot do this alone,” the association said.
PATA immediate past chair Sarah Mathews said, “We are launching with two key areas of focus; one is to house all the efforts across the globe by governments who have and are providing aid, relief and support for their industry stakeholders within the resource centre.
“Secondly, we are asking for the industry to complete a business impact survey in order to use those results to request for more government support for our industry.
“Whilst the current focus is on COVID-19 as a public health issue, the goal is to establish a long-term resource centre for the industry to utilise when we face any future crisis. The travel and tourism industry is incredibly resilient, and travel will continue to inspire millions of people across the world,” she said.
PATA vice chair Soon Hwa Wong added, "In crisis management, we need to have the latest status of the situation. For post crisis recovery planning, we need reliable data, updates and developing trends at our disposal.
“Timing is everything, especially when it relates to the execution of recovery efforts. Too early could result in a complete waste of resources. Too late could risk being one of the last off the starting block,” he said
PATA said it has brought together an array of experts and partners to share valuable data, content and trends of leading tourism indicators to help it spot "green shoots" as soon as they started to appear.
Separately, PATA’s executive board has extended Dr. Mario Hardy’s CEO contract to 31 May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.