PATA Launches Conference on Community Development

Bangkok (Thailand) – July 26, 2014 – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia are pleased to announce the launch of The International Conference on Community Development Through Tourism (ICCDT), held in conjunction with PATA Travel Mart 2014 (PTM2014) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. ICCDT will be held from September 16 – 17 at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra.

ICCDT is organised by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, in partnership with PATA, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UNSECO and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The two-day programme will include presentations of successful examples of community-based tourism (CBT), examination of the mechanisms (both institutional and practical) that have led to successful implementation, discussion of the actors involved, and analysis of the lessons learned. The successful examples discussed and evaluated during the conference will be bought together to form a set of over-arching guidelines for tourism development, known as the Phnom Penh Declaration on Community Development Through Tourism.

CBT is a form of sound environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism development, which has the potential to contribute substantially to local socioeconomic development, conservation, protection of natural and cultural resources, and poverty reduction.

The conference will showcase the vital role of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism development, in the area of water-based tourism, tourism best practise, heritage conservation, education, community health, and primary production.

The speaker programme has been developed in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, PATA, and UNWTO in order to involve speakers from a wide range of markets and backgrounds, both in the public and private sector.

The information presented and results of the subsequent discussions during the conference will be collated with a view to provide input to the development of:

The Phnom Penh Declaration on Community Development Through Tourism
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community-based tourism standards and guidelines
Framework to attract development partners or donor countries to concentrate and support tourism development projects

ICCDT is free of charge and open to the public.

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 90 government, state and city tourism bodies, nearly 30 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 57 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 41 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, London and New York. Visit www.PATA.org

Media Contact:
PATA
Paul Pruangkarn
Manager – Communications
Bangkok Thailand
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
E-mail: Communications@PATA.org
Online newsroom: www.PATA.org/Press