PATA appoints Hardy as COO and Bo Wu as Regional Director for China

Bangkok – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has appointed Mario Hardy as Chief Operations Officer, effective January 15, 2014. Based at PATA HQ in Bangkok, Mr Hardy will support CEO Martin Craigs.

Mr Hardy has been Chairman of the PATA Foundation since June 2012 and has been at the forefront of the Foundation’s response to tropical storm Haiyan in the Philippines since November 8.

An investor, entrepreneur and senior executive with more than 28 years of combined leadership, corporate development and change management experience, Mr Hardy was Vice President – Asia Pacific of UBM Aviation (OAG) between 1999 and 2013, with postings in Singapore, Beijing and London.
Prior to that he was Head of Group and Charter Sales for Canadian Airlines for 12 years and was based in Vancouver and Montreal.Hardy has worked in Asia for 10 years and has a proven track record in online travel, technology, analytics and data.

Likewise,PATA  appointed Mr. Bo Wu as Regional Director-China, effective December 30, 2013. He replaces Ms. Kate Chang, who served in the position for eight years and who has been invited to assume the position of Chairperson of the PATA China Chapter next year.

Prior to joining PATA, Wu served as Executive Director of the State of Hawaii Office in Beijing. His extensive knowledge of China’s travel industry helped build successful two-way tourism, aviation, business and educational exchanges between Hawaii and China. Before his Hawaii State Office role, Mr. Wu spent 10 years in the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), most notably as Deputy Director of the America and Europe Division of CNTA.

 Wu is known within the travel industry in Northeast Asia for his effective relations with China’s government institutions at national and regional levels. He is acclaimed for his consummate networking and low key but proactive approach that serves both China and client partners well. Wu will be based in PATA’s Beijing office.

PATA frequently holds major events in China, most notably the recent PATA Travel Mart in Chengdu, the annual UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook in Guilin, and the annual PATA China Responsible Tourism Forum.