The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has announced that Virtual PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2021 will take place from September 2-5 and Leshan, China will once again be the featured destination for the event.
Virtual PTM is a business-to-business travel contracting and virtual networking event that both mirrors and enhances the features of the long-standing PTM, which boasts over four decades of experience in connecting qualified international buyers and sellers from the Asia Pacific and beyond through one-to-one business appointments.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PATA team has been working to bring valuable content and virtual networking opportunities to enable our members, industry colleagues, trade show attendees, and forum delegates to stay up-to-date with the latest travel products and build connections with new business partners and global colleagues,” said PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera. “I invite all industry stakeholders to join us for this year’s event, as we continue to work towards restarting a more resilient and more responsible travel and tourism industry.”
The event is being organized in conjunction with the Sichuan International Travel Expo (SITE) with the support of the Official Event Partner, the Leshan Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau, and is powered by the Official Virtual Event Partner, Dragon Trail Interactive.
“PATA, as one of the most authoritative international tourism organizations in the world, enhances the value, quality, and sustainable growth of travel and tourism to, from, and within the Asia Pacific region. In recent years, PATA has been actively committed to promoting in-depth cooperation with Leshan Tourism, and has achieved fruitful results, becoming a model of regional cooperation in Asia and even the world,” said Ms. Song Qiu, Director of Leshan Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau. “PATA Travel Mart is one of the longest-running travel trade shows in the Asia Pacific.
In 2020, Leshan, as the Featured Destination of PTM 2020, took advantage of the SCITE and cooperated with PATA to jointly organize an international tourism EXPO, and achieved a transaction volume of over 90 million yuan through the interactive form of ‘online + offline.’ In 2021, Leshan will once again hold PTM 2021 with PATA to provide convenient and comfortable services for international buyers and sellers, build communication and interactive platform for participants, and work with PATA to make new and greater contributions to the development of tourism in the post-pandemic era.”
The event will offer two full business days of one-on-one meetings with a possibility of up to 50 appointments across all time zones from September 2-3. There will also be two trade visitor days on September 4-5. Furthermore, there are other opportunities to gain deeper insights into the industry through high-quality forums and to expand your networks through interactive networking breaks with special sessions from various national tourism organizations (NTOs).
Dragon Trail Interactive Co-founder & CEO, George Cao, said, “PATA Travel Mart is a trade show with a long and distinguished history. Going virtual last year demonstrated PATA’s strong leadership in innovation for our industry, and that leadership continues today. As a PATA member, we are proud to be selected again as a partner for this year’s PTM and hope to work with the events team and the China team at PATA, and with the Leshan government, to bring another successful show to fellow PATA members and the global travel industry.”
Virtual PTM 2021 highlights include:
- Interactive Exhibition Experience – Navigate an interactive map to browse sellers, submit appointment requests, view product pitches, and exchange contact information.
- Video Meets – Set up time slots and request meetings supported by video calls, text, and voice chat.
- High-Quality Live Forums – Gain insights on travel recovery with live presentations and panels through the PTM Forums.
- Buyer Incentives – Buyers have the opportunity to earn prizes by earning points and completing event missions.
- Games & Giveaways – Join one of the virtual social games and get the chance to win some awesome travel giveaways and prizes from our sponsors and partners.
PATA International Members in good standing are eligible for a free Standard Booth and both Chapter Members and Non-Members can benefit from seller fees that are 50% lower than market rates (USD599 for Chapter Members and USD799 for Non-Members).
Virtual PATA Travel Mart is a one-stop service to market to over +75,000 Chinese and international travel trade professionals, contract valuable new business and consolidate existing business relationships.