The PATA Youth Symposium, hosted by Gangneung-Wonju National University, took place on May 17, 2018 on the first day of the PATA Annual Summit 2018 with the theme ‘Go Large: Exponential Thinking for Your Career in Tourism’.
Organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Human Capital Development Committee and supported by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the event welcomed 150 local and international students and delegates from Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Korea (ROK), Maldives, Macao, China, Philippines, Thailand and USA.
In his opening remarks, PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy said: “The PATA Youth Symposium gives us the perfect opportunity, not only for you to listen to today’s leaders but, more importantly, for us to listen to you – the future of the industry. In this day and age, technology has created many opportunities for all of us, however, I think we need to remind ourselves that we, as a service industry, need to talk face to face with each other in order to better understand one another.”
The programme was developed with guidance from Dr. Markus Schuckert, Chairman of the PATA Human Capital Development Committee and Assistant Professor at the School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.