PATA and IUCN Announce New Partnership

Bangkok (Thailand) – June 25, 2015 – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have launched a new partnership in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), recognising the positive impacts that their collaboration can have in the areas of conservation and sustainable development.

The specific objectives of the MoU include collaboration in capacity building, knowledge sharing, and networking, both online and in person. PATA members can look forward to opportunities to increase their knowledge of wider sustainability issues, particularly in relation to Mangroves for the Future (MFF) and coastal tourism, as well as forthcoming IUCN case studies showcasing positive examples of sustainable tourism on PATA’s sustainability website, sustain.pata.org.

PATA CEO Mario Hardy said, “We are excited to have IUCN on board to share their knowledge and best practices to enable our members to make smarter decisions in the context of environment and conservation. The benefit of the partnership allows PATA members to increased access to opportunities to make a difference in dealing with Asia’s critical sustainability issues in relation to the travel and tourism industry.”

“Tourism is growing rapidly in the Asia Pacific region, with opportunities for both positive and negative impacts on ecosystems and communities, particularly in vulnerable coastal regions,” said IUCN Regional Director for Asia Aban Marker Kabraji. “This new partnership will allow us to share information with PATA member companies, to explore business risks and opportunities within the tourism industry, and to create new solutions together.”

Co-chaired by IUCN and UNDP, the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) partnership-based regional initiative focuses on building the resilience of communities dependent on coastal ecosystems in a number of Asian countries. By encouraging private sector engagement and community action in collaboration with PATA, communities and businesses in areas vulnerable to climate change can be empowered to live and operate sustainably. MFF builds on a history of coastal management interventions before and after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It initially focused on the countries that were worst affected by the tsunami – India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. More recently it has expanded to include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

With a common goal of long-term sustainable management and protection of livelihoods within the tourism sector, the partnership aims to promote an integrated approach to coastal area and natural resource management in the Asia Pacific region.

About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 87 government, state and city tourism bodies, 25 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 61 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 43 local PATA chapters worldwide. The chapters organise travel industry training and business development events. Their grassroots activism underpins PATA’s membership of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC), which includes ACI, CLIA, IATA, ICAO, WEF, UNWTO and the WTTC. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing, Sydney, Dubai, and London. Visit www.PATA.org.

About IUCN
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN’s work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges in climate, food and development. IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, with more than 1,200 government and NGO Members and almost 15,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.

IUCN’s Asia Regional Office is in Bangkok Thailand. The IUCN Asia Regional Secretariat has over 200 staff located in country and liaison offices in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Lao PDR, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

www.iucn.org/asia Facebook: iucn.asia Twitter: iucnasia

Media Contact:
PATA
Paul Pruangkarn
Manager – Communications
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
E-mail: Communications@PATA.org

IUCN
Jane Lawton
Head, Asia Communications and Private Sector Engagement
Email:jane.lawton@iucn.org
Phone:+66 2 662 4029 (ext 142)
Fax:+66 2 662 4389