Keynote Speach at the PATA CEO Challenge Summit in Bangkok

Dr RK Pachauri, Chairman, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Enjoy the excellent, very insightful keynote address.

Expedia - a creator of the World Heritage Fund

At the PATA CEO Cahllenge in Bangkok, Henrik Kjellberg, President of Expedia Asia Pacific, discussed Expedia's initiative in collaboration with the UN in forming the World Heritage Foundation.

In the fall of 2005, Expedia, Inc. joined forces with the UN Foundation to create the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism and the Friends of World Heritage. The goal? To support World Heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, and local economic development for communities in and around World Heritage sites. Hide In addition to financial support, our initiatives include:
- Inspiring travelers to explore World Heritage sites. Trips to World Heritage sites are currently available through Expedia.com, Expedia.co.uk, Expedia.fr and Expedia.de.
- Promoting economic development. Expedia and the UN Foundation donate funds, as well as Expedia employee travel-industry expertise, to help locally-owned tourism enterprises increase the economic well-being of their people through sustainable tourism.
- Encouraging public awareness and involvement. Through Friends of World Heritage, we provide a way for travelers and others to learn more about and support World Heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, and local development. Expedia and the UN Foundation match grassroots donations made online, up to $50,000 per year by each partner.
- In addition, the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism brings together members of the travel industry to promote World Heritage sites and communities. Since its inception, the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism has grown to include more than 50 travel partners, all working toward this common goal.

Have a look on the Expdia sites to find a world heritage site...and book it. Very innovative (or just a smart way of driving more business?)

Jens Thraenhart - Tourism Internet Markting Blog

Taking the message global...

Travelmole and "Tips from the T-List" collaborate on delivering the content from the PATA CEO Cahllenge in Bangkok to the global travel and tourism industry. Pictured are Charlie Kao, CEO of Travelmole and Jens Thraenhart, Editor-in-Chief of "Tips from the T-List".

Sri Lanka first carbon-neutral destination in the world?

Maybe a bit too early to say, but aspart of the Boardroom Challenge panel moderated by CNN anchor Ms Kristie Lu Stout, Renton de Alwis, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Board made a presentation on Earth Lung, a program that was announced during the UNWTO Summit on Climate Change in Davos in 2007. A very interesting initiative that according to Mr. de Alwis is supposed to turn into a community - maybe also online? A website is in development at www.earthlung.travel. You can download the white paper online.

Jens Thraenhart - Tourism Internet Marketing Blog

The PATA CEO Challenge has been officially opened

Reporting live from the PATA CEO Challenge in Bangkok: Jens Thraenhart - Tourism Internet Marketing Blog


H.E. Weerasak Kowsurat, the Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand formerly opened the first PATA CEO Challenge in Bangkok after the PATA CEO Peter de Jong and PATA Chairman Brian Deeson made their opening remarks.

The Minister was very proud that Bangkok was chosen as th venue of this important event, and stressed the vitality to collaborate and work together as it relates to climate change. Thailand itself is taking th issue very seriously itself.

The keynote speaker Dr. RK Pachauri, the Chairman of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), joined the summit attendees virtually. A live webcast of the speach, produced in collaboration between Tips from the T-List and TravelMole.com can be viewed at the PATA Summit page on TipsfromtheTlist.com.

Interview with Peter de Jong, CEO of PATA at ITB Berlin

Everybody is talking about China, India, and Vietnam...what is really going on in the fastest growing tourism destination in the world?

I have had the pleasure to sit down with Peter de Jong, CEO of PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) to learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the Asia Pacific region. In particular, Peter addressed the issue around climate change, and how the markets such as China, India, and Vietnam have to focus on infrastructure issues and sustainability in order to be able to cope with the increasing demand. These are all topics that will be addressed at the innovative "PATA CEO Challenge" around Climate Change, held in Bangkok from April 28-30, 2008.