ASIA – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Foundation has elected Peter Semone as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Semone replaces Mario Hardy who has served as Chairman since June 2012. Hardy was appointed as COO of PATA in January 2014 and he will continue to support and advise the PATA Foundation as needed.
Semone currently serves as Chief Technical Advisor of the Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (Lanith) in Vientiane, a project being implemented by the governments of Lao PDR and Luxembourg.
Prior to Lanith, Semone served as Team Leader of the Asian Development Bank-funded Mekong Tourism Development Project (MTDP) in Vietnam. MTDP focused on small-scale infrastructure development in support of the tourism sector. He also served as Vice-President of PATA where he was responsible for directing its regional offices in Europe, the Americas, the Pacific and China and providing strategic leadership to PATA’s regional and global initiatives.
In addition, the PATA Foundation has elected seven new members to its Board of Trustees:
- Dr Chris Bottrill, Dean, Faculty of Global and Community Studies, School of Tourism Management at Capilano University, Canada
- Andrew Jones, Guardian, Sanctuary Resorts, Hong Kong SAR
- Basant Raj Mishra, Executive Chairman, Venture, Travel (Temple Tiger) Nepal
- Stewart Moore, CEO, EC3 Global, Australia
- Stephen Pearce, Vice-President, Leisure Travel & Digital Marketing, Tourism Vancouver, Canada
- Inder Sharma, Chairman, Select Holiday Resorts, India
- Shukun Zhang, Dean, Tourism School of Hubei Vocational Technical College, Hubei, China.
- Andrew Jones, who has over 40 years’ experience working in a number of senior management and corporate positions in prestigious hotels, resorts and management companies worldwide, has been elected Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Existing members of the Board of Trustees include Hiran Cooray, Chairman, Jetwing Hotels, Sri Lanka; Gloria C Henderson, Travel Consultant, HNL Travel Associates, USA; and Nobutaka Ishikure, Chairman, Goltz et ses amis, Japan.
The PATA Foundation aims to contribute to the sustainable and responsible development of travel and tourism in Asia Pacific through the protection of the environment, the conservation of heritage, and support for education.
Image: Top row L-R: Peter Semone; Andrew Jones; Chris Bottrill; Hiran Cooray; Gloria C Henderson; and Nobutaka Ishikure. Bottom row L-R: Basant Raj Mishra; Stewart Moore; Stephen Pearce; Inder Sharma; Shukun Zhang; and Kornchalee “Kay” Tantimongkonsakul, Manager – Internal Affairs, PATA.
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