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Pacific Asia Travel Association
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a membership association working to promote the responsible development of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region.
In 1951, Pan Am Regional Manager for the South Pacific Bill Mullahey set about organizing the first Pacific-area travel conference with the aim of promoting tourism to the Asia–Pacific region, which had been heavily affected by World War II but was largely unknown as a tourism destination. According to Lorrin P. Thurstin, publisher of the Honolulu Advertiser who supported Mullahey in organizing the conference, the goal of the meeting was to "discuss cooperation among Pacific countries that would result in a greater exchange of visitors to their mutual advantage, and to develop methods of presenting the Pacific area to the world's travelers and the travel trade by reducing restrictions on Pacific travel, filling in accommodation gaps, and presenting the Pacific story in advertising and publicity."
The meeting was planned for the first week of June 1951, but replies to the invitations sent by Hawaii's territorial governor Ingram Stainback did not arrive in time and the conference was postponed until January 10–15, 1952. Ninety-one delegates from 13 countries attended the conference at Maluhia Hall of Fort DeRussy in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi. During the meeting, the Pacific Interim Travel Association (PITA) was formed with 25 active and 12 allied members. Represented were tourism and transportation companies from Alaska, Australia, Canada, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand, Philippine Islands, Samoa, Tahiti and the United States. PITA was legally incorporated two months later. Its mission was "To encourage and assist in the development of the travel industries throughout the Pacific area." PATA's focus for its first year included publicising itself to the international travel community through news articles, press releases and its quarterly newspaper, "PITA News Bulletin." The group also worked to ease entry and exit requirements for foreigners in Pacific nations, seeing success in Japan, the U.S. and the Philippines.
By the second conference in March 1953, PITA increased its membership to 49 active and allied members. That same year, the association changed its name to the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA).
In 1953 PATA's headquarters were moved from Hawaii to San Francisco, with Sam Mercer serving as the first executive director. Considered as the state of “money and influence”, San Francisco was home to an influential group of individuals who served on the PATA board and committees during the 1950s and 1960s.
Throughout the first decade, PATA membership grew steadily, attracting a wide range of members including governments, carriers, hotel members, travel agents, cruise lines and the media. Other members eventually included tour operators, educational institutions, vehicle operators, restaurants and catering services, advertising agencies, public relations firms, publications, banks and architectural and research firms.
By the end of the 1950s, PATA had 325 members, while there had also been a steady rise in the annual conference attendance. In 1955, a Research and Survey Committee was established and PATA delegates gave their approval to spend US$8,000 on the organisation's first advertising programme. In 1957 the first issue of Pacific Travel News (PTN) was published, providing PATA with a news vehicle to promote itself and its destinations.
In 1958, PATA's board of directors requested that the US International Cooperation Administration provide US$150,000 for a comprehensive study of the Pacific countries. The results of the survey, which became known as the 'Checchi Report', were presented at the 1962 Annual Conference. It presented to PATA members and NTOs the status of tourism in the Pacific region, both area-wide and individually by country. It contained information regarding the anticipated impact of tourist expenditure, the effects of tourism on jobs and wages, methods of financing tourism development and projections for US visitor arrivals to the Pacific region. The report quickly became a blueprint for many NTO and travel planners, as it methodically presented the economic benefits – both direct and indirect – derived from tourism.
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Pacific Asia Travel Association
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a membership association working to promote the responsible development of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region.
In 1951, Pan Am Regional Manager for the South Pacific Bill Mullahey set about organizing the first Pacific-area travel conference with the aim of promoting tourism to the Asia–Pacific region, which had been heavily affected by World War II but was largely unknown as a tourism destination. According to Lorrin P. Thurstin, publisher of the Honolulu Advertiser who supported Mullahey in organizing the conference, the goal of the meeting was to "discuss cooperation among Pacific countries that would result in a greater exchange of visitors to their mutual advantage, and to develop methods of presenting the Pacific area to the world's travelers and the travel trade by reducing restrictions on Pacific travel, filling in accommodation gaps, and presenting the Pacific story in advertising and publicity."
The meeting was planned for the first week of June 1951, but replies to the invitations sent by Hawaii's territorial governor Ingram Stainback did not arrive in time and the conference was postponed until January 10–15, 1952. Ninety-one delegates from 13 countries attended the conference at Maluhia Hall of Fort DeRussy in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi. During the meeting, the Pacific Interim Travel Association (PITA) was formed with 25 active and 12 allied members. Represented were tourism and transportation companies from Alaska, Australia, Canada, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand, Philippine Islands, Samoa, Tahiti and the United States. PITA was legally incorporated two months later. Its mission was "To encourage and assist in the development of the travel industries throughout the Pacific area." PATA's focus for its first year included publicising itself to the international travel community through news articles, press releases and its quarterly newspaper, "PITA News Bulletin." The group also worked to ease entry and exit requirements for foreigners in Pacific nations, seeing success in Japan, the U.S. and the Philippines.
By the second conference in March 1953, PITA increased its membership to 49 active and allied members. That same year, the association changed its name to the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA).
In 1953 PATA's headquarters were moved from Hawaii to San Francisco, with Sam Mercer serving as the first executive director. Considered as the state of “money and influence”, San Francisco was home to an influential group of individuals who served on the PATA board and committees during the 1950s and 1960s.
Throughout the first decade, PATA membership grew steadily, attracting a wide range of members including governments, carriers, hotel members, travel agents, cruise lines and the media. Other members eventually included tour operators, educational institutions, vehicle operators, restaurants and catering services, advertising agencies, public relations firms, publications, banks and architectural and research firms.
By the end of the 1950s, PATA had 325 members, while there had also been a steady rise in the annual conference attendance. In 1955, a Research and Survey Committee was established and PATA delegates gave their approval to spend US$8,000 on the organisation's first advertising programme. In 1957 the first issue of Pacific Travel News (PTN) was published, providing PATA with a news vehicle to promote itself and its destinations.
In 1958, PATA's board of directors requested that the US International Cooperation Administration provide US$150,000 for a comprehensive study of the Pacific countries. The results of the survey, which became known as the 'Checchi Report', were presented at the 1962 Annual Conference. It presented to PATA members and NTOs the status of tourism in the Pacific region, both area-wide and individually by country. It contained information regarding the anticipated impact of tourist expenditure, the effects of tourism on jobs and wages, methods of financing tourism development and projections for US visitor arrivals to the Pacific region. The report quickly became a blueprint for many NTO and travel planners, as it methodically presented the economic benefits – both direct and indirect – derived from tourism.