The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) recently announced that Virtual PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2020 will take place from September 23 – 27.

Virtual PTM is a business-to-business travel contracting and virtual networking event that both mirrors and enhances the features of the long-standing PTM, which boasts over four decades of experience in connecting qualified international buyers and sellers from all of Asia and the Pacific region though pre-matched business appointments. Furthermore, Virtual PTM offers cost-effective seller booth fees at significantly below market rates.

“As some destinations have slowly restarted tourism through either domestic or regional travel, eventually international markets will follow. Virtual PTM allows business to begin exploring new opportunities and markets, particularly as travel behavior and patterns will be dramatically different post COVID-19.,” said PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy. “Asia Pacific will be the leading force of tourism’s global recovery from COVID-19, as both an inbound destination as well as a robust source market. In addition, organizations need to start negotiating for recovery in 2021 and Virtual PTM is the perfect place to begin. Therefore I invite all industry stakeholders to join us as we look towards a rapid, robust, and responsible renewal of the travel and tourism Industry.”

The event is being organized in in conjunction with the Sichuan International Travel Expo with the support of the Leshan Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau and is powered by official virtual partner Dragon Trail Interactive.

Zhang Tong, Mayor of Leshan Municipal People’s Government, said, “Sichuan,China, home to the giant panda, offers you an experience of a leisurely life. Leshan, a key world tourist destination, is always filled with a strong aroma of food and tea, the fragrance of books and the beautiful sea of flowers and noted for its mountains, Buddhas and celebrities. I sincerely hope you will get to know Leshan through various ways and come visit it soon. Your visit will certainly bring you a pleasant surprise and a unique experience.”

The event will offer two full business days with a possibility of up to 50 appointments across all time zones from September 24-25. There will also be two trade visitor days on September 26-27. Furthermore, there will be further networking opportunities at the interactive networking breaks, as well as opportunities to gain deeper insights into the industry at the presentation hall. Event delegates can also enjoy a 360° view of the Sichuan International Travel Expo through the Virtual PTM 2020 platform.

Dragon Trail Interactive Co-founder & CEO, George Cao, said, “We are excited to enter a new phase of cooperation with our old friend PATA by delivering the first PTM Online. In addition to delivering a full-scale virtual trade show, through PATA’s partnership with the Leshan Government, we will live-stream forum sessions and other activities from the Sichuan International Travel Expo on the PTM Online platform. We believe this hybrid online-offline model for travel trade shows is the way of the future and are thrilled to be involved in such an innovative project.”

Virtual PTM 2020 highlights include:
• Interactive Exhibition Experience – Navigate an interactive map to browse sellers, submit matchmaking requests, view product presentations, and exchange contact information.
• Video Meets – Set up time slots and request meetings supported by video calls, text and voice chat.
• High-Quality Live Forums – Gain insights on travel recovery with live presentations and panels through the PTM Forums.
• Buyer Incentives – Buyers have the opportunity to earn prizes by earning points and completing event missions.
• Games & Giveaways – Join one of the virtual social games and get the chance to win some awesome travel giveaways and prizes from our sponsors and partners.

Virtual PATA Travel Mart is a one-stop-service to market to over +75,000 Chinese and international travel trade professionals, contract valuable new business and consolidate existing business relationships.