PATA workshops at PTM in Manila

Bangkok – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will present three hot issues affecting the travel and tourism industry, with workshops on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015, the emerging CIVETS markets and mTourism. As part of the PATA Travel Mart (PTM) program, the workshops will take place on September 25-28 at the SMX Convention Center, Manila, Philippines.

Martin J. Craigs, PATA CEO, said: “Apart from building business during PTM 2012, delegates will be empowered with insights that will help them be better prepared for upcoming marketing and technology opportunities and challenges facing the travel industry in Asia Pacific.”

A highlight of the workshop program is the full-day workshop entitled “Do You Know What You Need to Know – AEC 2015?” With the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the economies of Southeast Asia will become a single trading bloc with 600 million people and a combined GDP of around US$1.5 trillion. The AEC will offer both opportunities for those who are prepared and threats for those who are not.

Those businesses already preparing for 2015 will be well placed to take advantage of the 120 million or so visitor arrivals expected in that year. Those less prepared will flounder in an environment of increased competition for both goods and services.

To better understand the opportunities and threats to tourism that will come with the AEC in less than three years’ time, PATA is organizing a one-day workshop to deliver information that will be vital in understanding the nuances of integrating 10 service economies into a single bloc.

Another workshop will be on “CIVETS and other Emerging Markets: The Potential for Asia Pacific.” First there were the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. But now many are looking to the CIVETS – Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa – for growth potential over the next couple of decades. If the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is correct, then these economies will grow at an average annual rate of around 4.5 percent over the next 20 years, compared to less than 2 percent for developed economies.

While their combined GDP will only amount to 20 percent of the size of the G7 nations’ combined GDP by 2030, the CIVETS are none the less, second-tier emerging markets with a number of advantages. According to the EIU: “They have relatively sophisticated financial systems and do not face runaway inflation, massive current-account deficits, or public debt.”