Istanbul, Türkiye to Hold PATA Annual Summit 2025
Bangkok, Thailand, September 12, 2024 / TRAVELINDEX / The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce that PATA Annual Summit 2025, hosted by the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), will take place in İstanbul, Türkiye, in March, 2025. This announcement was initially made at the recent PATA board meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, August 30, 2024.
Perched on the Bosphorus Strait, İstanbul is a city renowned for its historical sites with incredible architectural design, including the Hagia Sophia, the Dolmabahçe Palace, and the Grand Bazaar—one of the world’s most iconic markets. As a key location within Türkiye, which welcomed 56.7 million international visitors in 2023 [TGA, 2024], İstanbul plays a vital role in one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations globally.
Türkiye is also deeply committed to promoting safe and sustainable tourism, with initiatives that provide certification for accommodation facilities to ensure continuous improvement and adherence to high standards. This dedication, combined with İstanbul’s unique cultural scene and rapidly growing economy, makes the city an ideal destination for pioneering discussions on the future of the tourism industry.
PATA CEO expressed his confidence in the annual gathering by stating, “I am humbled to take the PATA Annual Summit 2025 to a city that stands on two continents – Asia and Europe, as PATA strives to grow within the Asia Pacific region and globally. This Summit is important for the travel & tourism fraternity to shape a resilient, responsible, and reimagined future in a sustainable manner. My utmost appreciation to the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency for hosting this event with support from Turkish Airlines. I look forward to seeing all members and industry stakeholders in İstanbul next year.”
Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency General Manager, İsmail Bütün, said, “As the Turkish Tourism Board, we are excited to be hosting PATA’s 2025 Annual Summit in İstanbul. The Asia-Pacific region is amongst our key growth markets and the Pacific Asia Travel Association embodies a great membership base of hospitality, aviation, and travel industry partners in this territory. We can’t wait to host the esteemed members of PATA in İstanbul soon and show them the best of Turkish hospitality.”
Additionally, Turkish Airlines has been confirmed as the Official Airline Partner, lending their support to the event.
Turkish Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Ahmet Olmuştur stated “As Türkiye’s flag-carrier, we deem it our mission to support initiatives that promote our country’s countless tourist attractions and vast potential. PATA Annual Summit 2025 to be hosted by TGA will gather tourism and travel professionals from the Asia-Pacific region in Istanbul and will undoubtedly create a great atmosphere of networking and collaboration as well as a platform for exchanging ideas in order to address the opportunities and challenges ahead. With our award-winning flight experience and trademark hospitality, Turkish Airlines is ready to accompany the valued members of PATA for an unforgettable trip to our crown jewel, Istanbul”
The summit will feature plenary and breakout sessions, along with the PATA Executive Board and Board meetings, as well as roundtable discussions. It will serve as a platform for PATA’s public and private sector members, global partners, and PATA Chapters and Youth from around the world to address the challenges, issues, and opportunities facing the industry as it strives for responsible and sustainable growth, enhanced value, and quality tourism in the region.
Further details on PATA Annual Summit 2025 will be announced in due course.
About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership association that acts 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, which include government, state and city tourism bodies; international airlines and airports; hospitality organisations, and educational institutions, as well as youth members across the world. The PATA network also embraces the grassroots activism of the PATA Chapters and Student Chapters, who organise numerous travel industry training programmes and business development events across the world. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 31 local PATA Chapters worldwide, while hundreds of students are members of the 15 PATA Student Chapters globally. 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 an official office in Beijing. Visit www.PATA.org.
About the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency
Founded on July 15, 2019, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) is dedicated to delivering Türkiye as a brand and a popular destination in both domestic and international tourism markets; discover, develop and promote tangible and intangible natural, cultural, biological and manmade heritage assets; boost the tourism capacity of Türkiye, increase the rate of tourism investments in the national economy and raise the quality of service with short, medium and long term communication and marketing activities.
In line with tourism strategies and policies set by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Agency is carrying out all promotion, marketing and communication activities to serve Türkiye’s tourism goals, promote and market current tourism opportunities across the globe as well as discover, improve and establish potential areas of tourism. Operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Agency is subject to private law provisions. The Agency is made up of the Board of Directors, Executive Board, and Advisory Board, with the Board of Directors serving as the decision-making body.
With a distinguished Board of Directors considerably experienced in domestic and international tourism, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency will dedicate all efforts to contributing and reinforcing the position Türkiye aims to secure in the international market, brand Türkiye as a sought-after destination worldwide, boost the number and profitability of tourists Türkiye hosts, facilitate potential investment projects in the tourism industry and contribute to the development of cities.
About Turkish Airlines
Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines has a fleet of 462 (passenger and cargo) aircraft flying to 349 worldwide destinations as 296 international and 53 domestics in 130 countries. More information about Turkish Airlines can be found on its official website www.turkishairlines.com or its social media accounts on Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.