The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is set to host the Virtual PATA Wellness and Luxury Travel Conference and Mart 2021, taking place Oct. 20-22. Organized in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the niche-themed event offers a deeper look at specialized product offerings and forum topics to share key trends in the global wellness and luxury tourism industry emerging from pandemic recovery.

The two-day event, comprising a one-day conference and one-day mart, brings together various tourism professionals in the wellness and sustainable luxury travel sector. The conference is designed to support PATA’s vision for the responsible development of tourism, while the one-day travel mart helps promote, build, and strengthen business and networks for delegates.

“Shaped by new consumer priorities since the pandemic, wellness and sustainable luxury tourism are on the rise,” says PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera. “These two segments of leisure travel overlap in a number of ways, which can be seen in the growing demand for boutique travel experiences offered by high-end hospitality brands.

“While not every wellness story comes with a luxury angle, personal well-being has never been more central to consumer behaviour. We can also expect the demand for personal well-being and environmental well-being to be viewed as one. Guests will value travel experiences that don’t have a negative impact on the planet, just as they don’t want it to have a negative impact on their own health.”

TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn says the luxury and wellness sector is an important part of Thailand’s tourism offering, noting, “After a long pause from travelling, tourists might need to heal themselves, both body and soul, as well as isolate themselves in a luxury pool villa…”

And with Thailand set to re-open destinations such as Phuket and Koi Samui to international tourism in October, Supasorn says the Virtual PATA Wellness and Luxury conference is “an important channel for Thailand to tell the world that we are ready to welcome everyone back with safety and hygiene measures.”

The travel mart will offer 1-1 business meeting appointments, which will be supported by video calls, text, and voice chat. There will also be networking opportunities at the interactive networking breaks which will include various games and quizzes.

Conference highlights include:

• Interactive exhibition experience: Exhibitor listing to browse sellers, submit appointment requests, view seller profile, products, and exchange contact information.
• Video meets: Set up time slots and request meetings supported by video calls, text, and voice chat.
• Live forums: Gain insights on travel recovery with live presentations and panels
• 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.

For more details on the Virtual PATA Wellness and Luxury Travel Conference and Mart 2021, email at Events@PATA.org or click HERE.