The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has announced an organisational partnership with the Professional Travel Bloggers Association (PTBA) to strengthen the cooperation and shared interests between the two associations.
PATA will work with PTBA to encourage buyers, sellers, and conference delegates to connect with leading industry travel bloggers at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart 2016 in Chiang Rai, Thailand from February 17-19, 2016, at the Dusit Island Resort Chiang Rai. The event is being hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, said, “In today’s digital economy, original user-generated content is a critical aspect for any organisation’s digital marketing strategy. Destinations need to better understand that good travel bloggers help sell tourism offerings through enriching stories that encourage travel and truly connect with an audience. More importantly, these stories help foster cross-cultural understanding for the highly interconnected and interdependent travel and tourism industry.”
“This partnership allows our members the opportunity for them to connect with leading industry travel bloggers at our events, particularly the Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart in Thailand and PATA Travel Mart in Indonesia. This can help elevate their marketing efforts and stay competitive,” he added.
Matt Gibson, president, PTBA, added, “PTBA is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping the travel industry and professional bloggers meet and work together in productive and mutually-beneficial ways that enable both parties to meet their goals. We are very excited about the opportunities this partnership will open up for us to engage in dialogue with the travel industry in the Asia Pacific region about how they can boost sales through blogging, social media, and by working with professional bloggers.”
As part of the agreement, the two organisations will work to to share information through research and publications, reciprocate in event participation, and enhance access for the benefit of members of both organisations.
