The 40th edition of PATA Travel Mart 2017 (PTM 2017), hosted by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), has attracted 1,131 delegates from 66 global destinations.
The delegate numbers embraced 460 sellers from 252 organisations and 37 destinations, along with 293 buyers from 281 organisations and 51 source markets. PATA was also pleased to welcome 37 young tourism professionals including PATA Student Chapter members from Hong Kong Polytechnic, Singapore Temasek Polytechnic, China Zhejiang Gongshang University, University of Guam, Nepal, Macao SAR and Canada Vancouver Capilano University. PTM 2017 officially opened in Macao SAR on September 13.
“It was very recently that Macao was hit hard by Typhoon Hato and, while recovery works are continuing, the city’s return to normality and amazing welcome is testament to the resilience of its people,” Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA said.
“As Macao welcomes PATA Travel Mart 2017, its 40th edition, we are encouraged that, together with MGTO, around 30 of our local tourism operators are participating at the travel mart, and taking advantage of PATA’s valuable network to engage with their counterparts from the Asia Pacific and beyond. On the other hand, we are glad to see our next generation of tourism professionals involved in the travel mart through PATA Youth Symposium, hosted by the Institute for Tourism Studies, and by contributing as volunteers at the event,” Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director, MGTO, said.
PTM 2017 also welcomed the SheTrades Pavilion hosted by the International Trade Centre (ITC). SheTrades, a flagship initiative of ITC, provides women entrepreneurs around the world with a unique network and platform to connect to international markets.
