PATA stands for the Pacific Asia Travel Association that was established in the year 1951. This is a non-profit organization that would act as a mediator and take the responsibility of developing the travel and tourism of Asia Pacific region. This association comprises of 95 government, state and city tourism bodies along with 25 International airlines and airports. Furthermore, it also has 108 hospitality organizations, 72 educational institutions and many travel companies that are operating in the Asia Pacific region. There are many professionals across the globe that belongs to the 36 local PATA chapters. These chapters would take care of the training programs conducted about the travel industry and hosts business development events. The head office of PATA is located in Bangkok and it has offices spread across different parts of the world, including Sydney, London and Beijing. 

This organization is trying its best to make Asia Pacific region that vacation land for tourists across the globe and promote travel to different destinations that are located in the Pacific region. The main objective of this non-profit organization is to increase the number of travelers visiting the Pacific region. This association is run by 44 members. The founder of this organization is Lorrain Thurston. This person is the leading newspaper publisher in Honolulu. The main idea of this founder is to organize travel to different locations. First of all, he wants to start from Occident to Pacific area in a systematic manner to reap many opportunities that exist and create new ones with the help of multimedia publicity. 

The first conference of the Pacific Asia Travel Association was held in January 1952 in Honolulu and it is headquartered in San Francisco, USA, in the year 1983. PATA has a director for Europe and hails from London and works hard to bring in more traffic from the European markets to the Asian Pacific region. The first office of PATA was opened in Manila, Philippines in the year 1976.

Aims and objectives of PATA in Tourism Development

As PATA is a non-profit organization, it is established with the main aim to develop, promote and facilitate travel to different places across Pacific area and South East Asian regions. Every member in the organization is working towards this goal. This has tapped the US market, which is considered as the world’s biggest travel market. This is the place where many people from different regions would meet, involve in different types of travel trades from different countries. This majorly focuses on grabbing the travel opportunities in different countries and increase awareness about different beautiful destinations that are lurking in the dark. They also have key contacts in different countries from where the tourists will be coming. The main aim of this organization is that the whole travel industry should work in collaboration to achieve the goal of increasing tourists to the Asian Pacific region. They also work to increase the number of tourists visiting these countries to enjoy the bliss of the place. Each member has to get a fair share of business. 

What are the activities of PATA in tourism development?

The activities that are carried out by PATA would help small to new destinations to improve in their infrastructure, expertise, travel schemes, destinations and hotel operations. These are all important to promote the tourism of an upcoming place. Generally, travelers would like to visit the place that is surrounded with serenity and ample amenities that gives them a perfect getaway. This organization would give up-to-date information about the practical and theoretical experiences that are in the tourism. With the research, education, marketing and development councils, PATA has become a central source that is giving ample support to the membership in marketing programmers for different destinations. This organization is also giving rigorous training and educational programmers in the human resource development. 

The PATA conference and different workshops would allow the members to share their opinions, views and ideas on how to promote the tourism in different regions across Asia Pacific. This helps them to find innovative ways to grab the attention of tourists to the amazing and breathtaking destinations in Asia Pacific regions.

The staff working with PATA holds ample experience and knowledge on marketing and research. They will share the knowledge with others and let the members be aware of the new techniques and put into practice in their respective areas. The programmes that are conducted by PATA would benefit the members in this organization either directly or indirectly. They can learn about travel research, training programmes, marketing and develop products and services to attract visitors. 

What are the key functions of PATA?

The following are the key functions that are carried out by PATA operating in Asia Pacific region:
?    Conduct a travel conference and workshop: In the few months of the year, PATA     will organize various conferences with the main aim to review the progress, exchange ideas and plan for the programmes to be hosted in the future.
?    The meetings are carried out in different regions. This PATA conference would act as a promotional tool for the government, which is hosting the meeting to promote about their travel industry and learn how to attract visitors and what is the tourism plans to implement.