NEWS / TRAVEL TRENDS
PATA LAUNCHES
CRISIS RESOURCE CENTER AND TOURISM RECOVERY MONITOR The travel and tourism industry has weathered many different types of crises; however, the current unprecedented pandemic poses a severe threat to the entire industry impacting the economic livelihood of millions of people around the world
T
he Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has announced the launch of the PATA Crisis Resource Center and Tourism Recovery Monitor on April 02, 2020, a unified platform that provides reliable and up-to-date policy statements, authoritative information, and tourism indicators from around the globe. The aim is to provide a global centralised repository of reliable information for users based on their needs. The PATA Crisis Resource Center is a result of a pilot Expert Task Force (ETF) led by PATA Immediate Past Chair Sarah Mathews to accu-
26
APRIL 2020 February March 2020 2020 Tourism Tourism Tourism India India India
mulate knowledge, generate support, and help members and industry stakeholders across the globe access solutions by governments, while also assisting governments in understanding the challenges through the travel impact survey. PATA Vice Chair Soon Hwa Wong also led an ETF to establish the PATA Tourism Recovery Monitor, an integrated resource for strategic tourism planners and decision makers to keep fully abreast of the fast changing environment. Both initiatives are housed under one microsite. Ms Mathews said, “The travel
and tourism industry has weathered many different types of crises; however, the current unprecedented pandemic poses a severe threat to the entire industry impacting the economic livelihood of millions of people around the world. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) up to 75 millions jobs are at immediate risk globally, while travel and tourism GDP loss to the world economy is up to US$2.1 trillion. Therefore, I felt it was critical that we brought together global crisis experts like Damian Cook of E-Tourism Frontiers, Willem Niemeijer of YAANA Ventures, and
