Pata Travel Mart 2017 kicked off in Macau Special Administrative Region of China on Thursday, attracting over 1,000 delegates from more than 60 countries.

Organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) and hosted by the Macau Government Tourism Office, Pata Travel Mart is Asia Pacific’s premier travel trade show. 

The show provides unparalleled networking and contracting opportunities to help travel and tourism organisations to meet with decision makers and new clients. 

It also helps travel and tourism organisations to expand their network and build or maintain existing relationships.

Pata Chief Executive Officer Mario Hardy said that the longevity of Pata Travel Mart reaffirms that the event continues to provide a great business platform for networking opportunities between buyers and sellers from around the world. 

“The success of today’s event as well as previous travel marts results from the partnerships between the public and private sectors,” Hardy said.

Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), said Nepal was committed to broadening tourism offerings and diversifying visitor source markets. “Nowadays, tourism has become an art of storytelling. Globally, photography has become popular for storytelling. Nepal is no more an exception,” Joshi told a media briefing. “Hence, we need to promote tourism through photography.” 

Joshi added that Nepal would be holding a pre-World Cup paragliding event next year. “Travelling in Nepal is a very rewarding thought. Although we have limited infrastructure, we have everything to offer,” he said. 

Suman Pandey, president of Pata Nepal Chapter, said these kinds of platforms would help Nepal to promote its products and destinations among global visitors. 

“In the past years, only a few companies used to participate in the travel mart and fair. Nowadays, it is attended by Nepal Airlines, Nepal Tourism Board and other government-led organisations. Public private participants have greatly helped to promote Nepal,” Pandey said.

Nepal’s tourism experienced a dramatic turnaround due to continuous marketing efforts and aggressive promotion by various international media. 

Nepal received a lot of media exposure following the earthquake which aroused tremendous interest among potential travellers. 

The world’s leading travel guide Lonely Planet had named Nepal the world’s ‘best value destination’ for 2017. 

Nepal has been placed on National Geographic’s list of the top 10 places that deserve more travellers. The UK-based popular travel publication has placed Nepal among the top three spots in its list of 10 places. 

Tourist arrivals in Nepal jumped 41.5 percent to 460,237 individuals in the first half of 2017, raising expectations that the total figure will hit the 1-million mark by the end of the year.  

With the peak tourist season beginning in September, tourism entrepreneurs are optimistic that arrivals will hit the 1-million mark this year. 

In 2011, the country had endeavored to attract 1 million arrivals, but the goal proved unattainable.  

Pata Travel Mart is Asia Pacific’s premier and one of the oldest travel trade shows. Held annually in September, it is hosted in a different destination each year.

Participant exhibitors range from official tourism organisations to leading travel companies and small and medium enterprises, including airlines, hotels and others from the Asia Pacific and beyond.