India's big win @PTM 2016

India Chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) bagged the PATA Award of Excellence 2016 during the PATA Travel Mart in Indonesia.

PATA Travel Mart 2016 (PTM 2016) officially opened in BSD-Serpong, Indonesia, on the evening of September 7, 2016, with the PTM 2016 Welcome Reception hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia and presided over by the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Jusuf Kalla. The mart attracted 1,358 delegates from 63 destinations around the world.

The PATA India Chapter was presented the PATA Award of Excellence. Commenting on the momentous occasion, Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter, said, “It is a matter of great pride for us to be selected from 41 other chapters around the world to receive such a prestigious award. It underscores the commitments and efforts of our members, and their unending support to the tourism industry in India. Our focus is on value delivery to our members and we continue to strive for excellence for years to come.”

The total number of delegates for PTM 2016 included 683 sellers from 272 organisations and 36 destinations, along with 258 buyers from 247 organisations and 52 source markets. The Mart this year saw first-time sellers from the State of Palestine, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation, and Zimbabwe.

The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on the morning of Thursday, September 8 and was conducted by Dr. Arief Yahya, Minister of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia; I Gde Pitana, Deputy Minister for International Tourism Marketing, and Setyono Djuandi Darmono, Chairman of the PATA Indonesia Chapter in the presence of PATA Chairman Andrew Jones, PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy, members of the PATA Executive Board and many distinguished guests from Indonesia and overseas, including YB Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism, Malaysia and Y.Bhg Datuk Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, Director General of Tourism Malaysia.