The Pacific Asia Travel Association has signed a four-party agreement to establish a permanent tourism research forum for the Asia Pacific region in Guilin, China (PRC). The agreement was recently signed in Guilin at the UNWTO/PATA Forum on ‘Tourism Trends and Outlook’. Signatories to the agreement include: Greg Duffell, CEO, PATA; Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General Ad Interim, UNWTO; Li Zhigang, Mayor, Guilin and Kaye Chon, Director, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU).
As per the agreement the Forum will ‘provide an opportunity for policymakers, senior officials, researchers and industry representatives to take stock of the global and regional trends in tourism and the broader environment impacting upon tourism’.
The proposed structure of this permanent Forum in Guilin is a two-day conference and a technical tour. Themes will vary annually and will be decided jointly by the four organisations. PATA and UNWTO will continue to be joint organisers of the Forum, working closely with the HKPU on all technical matters relating to each event. |