BANGKOK, 2014-7-10 — /Travel PR News/ — On Friday, July 4, 2014, the Pacific Asia Travel Association(PATA) officially launched the ‘PATA Loves ASEAN’ campaign with a soft launch screening of the Travel Channel advertising campaign promoting responsible tourism experiences, which is to be broadcast throughout the Travel Channel network of over 81 million viewers in Europe, Middle East and Asia.
During 2014, PATA has been working in consultation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat to strategically work together to enhance the development of Asia Pacific’s travel and tourism industry.
The main pillar of the “PATA Loves ASEAN” initiative is US$300,000 advertising campaign on the Travel Channel to promote responsible ASEAN tourism experiences. The Travel Channel will create a 1 minute advertisement which will feature 10 ASEAN Member States’ best destination footage in one TV promo teaser (positioning ASEAN Tourism as “One Vision, One Identify, One Community”). At the event, attendees saw the preliminary version of the advertisement.
PATA CEO Martin Craigs said, “The TV campaign on the Travel Channel will showcase the responsible and sustainable products by ASEAN and how ASEAN has emerged as a global leader of sophisticated and niche tourism products that have a caring and community touch.”
Mr. Craigs, along with the PATA Executive Board including Mr. Scott Supernaw, PATA Chairman, and H.E Mr. Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr., Secretary of Tourism, Philippines, welcomed guests and industry peers to the event, including Ms. Chadatip Chutrakul, CEO of Siam Piwat.
At the event, Ms Chutrakul was given the opportunity to showcase ICONSIAM, a US$1.5 billion riverside luxury multi-use complex on the banks of the Chao Praya River to be completed by 2017. The project, a joint venture between Siam Piwat, Magnolia Quality Development and the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, is part of a bigger public-private sector partnership to revitalize a 10-kilometer stretch of the Chao Praya River. The goal is to turn the river into a global attraction to further boost Bangkok’s appeal as a tourism destination and enhance its status as an ASEAN hub.
Secretary Jimenez, the primary architect for the, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” tourism campaign, also gave a brief presentation on the motivational power of an effective marketing campaign for a tourism destination. His presence in Bangkok, as well as the event itself, aimed to show PATA’s solidarity with Thailand during its current situation. The presentation on ICONSIAM clearly showed that businesses still view Bangkok and Thailand as a world-class tourism destination.
The “PATA Loves ASEAN” TV campaign is expected to run between 10-12 weeks, and will be seen across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Five responsible tourism categories will be highlighted by the advertisements; including nature tourism, culture and heritage tourism,community-based tourism, cruise and river tourism, and travel for health and wellness. The aim of this campaign is to increase public awareness of the importance of tourism to the Complete Visitor Economy and AEC 2015.
The event, held at the Blue Ribbon Screen in Siam Paragon, was proudly sponsored by Siam Piwat, Khiri Travel and Dusit International.
Mr. Craigs concluded, “This was another memorable and successful day for PATA Next Gen. We also demonstrated PATA’s ability to link top-level leaders from public and private sector on a day billed as “A Declaration of Interdependence.”
PATA also used the occasion to present a video on its “Fabled History, Formidable Future.” View the video on the PATA TV YouTube channel.
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About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 90 government, state and city tourism bodies, nearly 30 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 57 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 41 local PATA chapters worldwide. The chapters organise travel industry training and business development events. Their grassroots activism underpins PATA’s membership of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC), which includes ACI, CLIA, IATA, ICAO, WEF, UNWTO and the WTTC. ThePATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing, Sydney, Dubai, London and New York. Visit www.PATA.org
Media Contact:
PATA
Paul Pruangkarn
Manager – Communications
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
Email: communications@pata.org
Online newsroom: http://www.pata.org/Press
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Picture: L/R: Prinn Panitchpakdi, Country Head, CLSA; Chadatip Chutrakul, CEO, Siam Piwat; Martin Craigs, CEO, PATA; and Ivy Chee, Regional Director – East Asia, PATA