10 April 2008

TAT governor elected next PATA chairman

COLOMBO - The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has chosen Phornsiri Manoharn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), as its chairman-elect for 2008/2009 and chairman of the board for 2009/2010.

The decision was taken at the PATA Board of Directors meeting and annual meeting held in Sri Lanka.

Mrs. Phornsiri said, Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis is certainly not an individual honour, but a national honour as well.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœIt is an acknowledgement of ThailandÃ¢â¬â¢s active role in the Asia-Pacific tourism industry.

"PATA and ThailandÃ¢â¬â¢s tourism industry, and especially TAT, have grown together and are inseparable from one another.Ã¢â¬~

As PATA chairman, she will work to strengthen the associationÃ¢â¬â¢s membership structure by creating consistent interaction among PATA chapters, their members and the PATA headquarters in Bangkok.

Thailand will host the PATA CEO Challenge 2008: Confronting Climate Change in Bangkok from April 29-30

Speaking in Sri Lanka, outgoing PATA chairman 2007/2008 Brian Deeson, of Accor , identified human resources as a key issue.

"In populous developing countries the issue is training, while in developed countries the issue is lack of supply," he said.

"To match the two the answer lies in investing in human resource development and new policies that enable labour mobility.Ã¢â¬~