Discussing the corporate contribution to Sustainable Tourism

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce that Mr. Kevin Croley, Six Continents Hotels’ Vice President of Sales Asia-Pacific and Dr. Pongsak Hoontrakul of Thaiparks123.com will lead plenary sessions at the 1st PATA Sustainable Tourism Conference and Mart, October 23-26, 2002 in Banten, Western Java, Indonesia.

Mr. Croley will present "Sustainability: Why Go Green? A Corporate Focus." Six Continents Hotels is one of a new generation of hotel corporations with heightened environmental consciousness. The group has developed a number of environmentally-friendly programmes such as "Conserving Our Planet."

In Conserving Our Planet, management from 3,200 Six Continents Hotels worldwide are invited to show how their properties create and conduct environmental events, carry out green self audits, improve guest towel and linen reuse rates, and raise funds for UNICEF’s Water and Environmental Sanitation Programme. 

Dr. Pongsak Hoontrakul, the principle Founder and CEO of Thaipan1.com will lead the plenary session entitled "Sustainable Tourism Industry: E-Tourism and its Economic Implications." This session aims to introduce different approaches to using national parks and reserves as viable ecotourism experiences as demonstrated in Thaiparks123.com, a comprehensive ecotourism destination site. 

Dr. Pongsak is a well-known lecturer and researcher for several leading universities in Thailand and the author of numerous financial publications. 

Under the theme, "Protecting Indigenous Culture and the Environment for Sustainable Growth," the 1st PATA Sustainable Tourism Conference and Mart is being developed as a forum for tourism business people to meet with the academic community to discuss the development and promotion of sustainable tourism initiatives. Such initiatives should be sensitive, practical and profitable. 
The event will feature well-researched conference sessions and case studies, a mart showcasing sustainable tourism products and services, an off-site workshop for hands-on cultural audit exercises, and pre- and post-event tours.

To attend the 1st PATA Sustainable Tourism Conference & Mart, the conference-only fee is US$150 for PATA members, US$220 for chapter members, US$375 for non-members and US$60 for PATA Young Tourism Professionals. The local conference-only registration fee is US$80 for PATA Indonesia members and US$120 for non-PATA members and accompanying persons. 

For the mart component of the event, the seller fee is US$400 per person for PATA members, US$500 for chapter members, US$650 for non-members and US$200 for an additional seller. The buyer fee is US$170 for PATA members, US$200 for chapter members and US$250 for non-members.