MATATO President Abdulla Ghiyas named 2018 PATA Face of the Future
BANGKOK, March 28, 2018 — Abdulla Ghiyas, President of the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) – one of the most active NGOs in the Maldives dedicated to fostering and promoting the sub industry of local travel agents, is today named as the 2018 PATA Face of the Future. This is the most prestigious honour open to young tourism professionals in the Asia Pacific region.
Dr Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), said, “I would like to congratulate Abdulla on winning the 2018 PATA Face of the Future award. His clear commitment to the responsible development of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region is highlighted by his more than 10 years of service with MATATO and his many other activities and partnerships in the industry. In addition, his unique experience and insights will be a welcome addition to the Executive Board.”
As the 2018 PATA Face of the Future, Abdulla will have extensive exposure at the PATA Annual Summit 2018 from May 17-20 in Gangneung, Korea (ROK). He will be one of the speakers at the PATA Youth Symposium, be interviewed by BBC World News Presenter & Producer Sharanjit Leyl at the one-day conference and be one of the debaters at the UNWTO/PATA Leaders Debate. Abdulla will also be invited to join the 2018/2019 PATA Executive Board as a non-voting member and observer.
“I am truly overwhelmed and humbled to have been recognised with the prestigious PATA Face of the Future award. This award is for the hard-working team at MATATO and Inner Maldives Holidays, and every dreamer out there for believing that there is always room for thinking bigger, pushing limits and imagining the impossible,” said Abdulla. “Today we are living in an era of ever evolving challenges and changes. The role of youth and students across the globe is being redefined and I believe younger generations can play a vital role in travel and tourism. I look forward to working together with PATA and other travel industry stakeholders to further the role of youth and inspire them in joining this movement.”
Abdulla is a young energetic disrupter in the Maldivian tourism industry, who has changed the tourism landscape in the last few years by giving a voice to all Small Medium Enterprises in the industry.
MATATO is today considered the leading NGO in the Maldives with the association engaged in various activities such as advocacy and lobbying, training and workshops, fam trips, loan schemes via different financial institutions, recognition programs such as Awards, travel conferences and forums, publications and much more. The association last year organised destination stands and road shows, exhibiting brand Maldives in 14 countries around the world.
Abdulla is also a serial entrepreneur engaged in leading travel businesses and startups. He is the Deputy Managing Director of Inner Maldives Holidays, one of the largest inbound and outbound travel agency in Maldives. He is also a Director for Ace Travels Maldives and Spence Maldives, which are joint ventures with Sri Lankan blue chip conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC. Having 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, Abdulla was the youngest Board Director of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) from 2014 to 2017. He was also named by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Maldives as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Maldives in 2010 for his role in business turnaround in Inner Maldives Holiday. Abdulla also contributes to the Consulate of the Republic of Seychelles to the Maldives as the Deputy.
Snow and Mountain Tourism faces the challenge of adapting to change
Madrid, Spain, 27 March 2018 – The 10th World Congress on Snow and Mountain Tourism (Andorra, 21-23 March 2018) highlighted the need to adapt tourism accommodation to the expectations of today’s customers and to increase the quality of the traveller’s experience, while identifying knowledge management and hospitality culture as keys to success.
Organized jointly by the seven communes of the Principality, the Government of Andorra and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), this Congress constitutes a permanent forum for debate on the development and sustainability of tourism in mountain areas.
More than 400 participants attended the tenth edition of the Congress, including around thirty speakers from more than 16 countries and experts from Spain, the United States, Finland, France, Greece, Japan, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, among many others.
At the closing of the Congress, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili stressed the importance for mountain destinations to not only provide responses to the changing demands of travellers, but also to cover areas that range from “the need to build infrastructure and sustainable accommodations, quality professional training, as well as combating seasonality and optimizing resources”.
As a conclusion of the discussions over three days, the experts highlighted aspects that should mark the roadmap to follow for this segment of international tourism:
The tourism sector came out of the crisis reaching a record number of tourists and tourism accommodation supply and is taking the necessary steps to cater to a customer profile that is increasingly more demanding and more experienced.
Digitalization and globalization have created tourists with habits and expectations that are very different from those of traditional visitors, thus requiring products to be adapted to changing expectations on the demand side.
Certain aspects on the supply side must continue to be improved, keeping in mind that the quality of the visitor’s experience should be the central axis of this evolution.
Being able to offer hotels, ski slopes and tourism facilities that satisfy tourists is just one of the aspects that guarantee the success of a mountain destination. But there are other factors involved, such as knowledge management, the quality of services and the culture of hospitality.
University training and experiences are applicable to tourism activity, and in this regard, observation and research studies in mountain destinations have helped develop sustainable environments.
New digital platforms must offer security and trust for both owners and guests. In the area of accommodation regulations, Andorra presented its new legislation and highlighted its five objectives: respond to new customer behaviours, improve equity among groups of accommodations, reduce unlicensed operations and facilitate the regulation of illegal accommodation, and improve the quality and safety of visitors. In addition, Andorra has introduced online reputation for the first time as a new criterion for the classification of accommodation.