PATA and the Sanya Tourism Board signed an MoU on August 27 to collaborate on tourism research, capacity development, and tourism development within Sanya and the broader Hainan region, among other activities.
One of the key components in the partnership is to co-host the Tropical Coastal City Tourism Event over three years, including 2024. The debut edition is set for September 4 and 5 at the Hyatt Regency Sanya Tianli Bay. It will bring together thought leaders from tropical coastal and island resort destinations.
Sanya Tourism Board director general Albert Yip emphasised that the event will feature many noteworthy destinations, among them Thailand’s Phuket and Samui, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Mauritius.
“PATA is an influential platform for tourism. This collaboration kickstarts a unique event for Sanya, which is also particularly meaningful for other coastal cities. (We) share challenges, such as generating traffic and travel community integration. We aim to learn from each other on how we can do better,” Yip stated.
PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid said: “PATA’s first collaboration with the Sanya Tourism Board is an important occasion. The partnership seeks to redefine tourism marketing in tropical coastal cities. By sharing insights between cities and promoting Sanya as a premier destination, we aim to set new benchmarks for tourism marketing strategies in coastal destinations.”
According to Yip, the event will help Sanya establish the Tropical Coastal Cities Tourism Alliance, which aims to connect tropical coastal cities worldwide and allow for the exchange of best practices and solutions among coastal cities.
It will also highlight Sanya’s recent shift towards international tourism development and efforts to boost consumption levels and establish the Sanya International Tourism Consumption Center. These improvements are part of the Sanya Plan for Building an International Tourism Resort (2022-2035).
Yip underscored Sanya’s positive destination reputation, as it has been recognised twice by the New York Times as one of the most popular destinations and ranked first in China in terms of yacht registration numbers.
He said the city’s main draws are its “exceptional natural ecology” and a well-established culture of Chinese traditional medicine that benefits wellness tourism.
At the PATA Youth Symposium 2024 on August 27 at Dusit Thani College, the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it is shifting the landscape of the travel and hospitality industries were key topics of discussion.
Sonal Patel, vice president of APAC at Quantcast and a PATA Gold award winner, emphasised in her keynote the transformative power of data and AI, highlighting its role in personalising consumer experiences.
Patel, drawing parallels to the film Minority Report, discussed how AI is evolving from basic segmentation to hyper-segmentation, allowing marketers to connect with their ideal audience in real-time. She predicted that by 2028, virtual reality would revolutionise travel, with autonomous travel planning becoming a reality by 2030.
TTG Asia also surveyed students on their perspectives regarding AI’s impact on the travel and hospitality sectors.
Their feedback revealed the many angles from which hyper-personalisation from AI could be considered – from cultural nuances to birthday wishes, and from enhancing connectivity in crises to alleviating burden on operators.
Mimi and Min, third-year tourism business and event management students from Mae Fah Luang University, highlighted AI’s critical role in addressing unplanned infrastructure gaps during crises.
They noted that AI’s capabilities are especially valuable in promoting connectivity and managing disruptions, drawing from experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In the past, we chose travel packages and destinations through traditional means (such as in-person interactions) with tour operators. Post-pandemic, we’ve increasingly relied on online agents due to restrictions on travel. This shift has significantly improved how we promote tourism destinations,” Mimi explained.
Min added that “without AI, we’re going to struggle a lot” when facing future disruptions and uncertainties.
Linh Nhan Aung, a foreign student from Bangkok University International, noted AI’s role in making travel more accessible and efficient.
He pointed out: “AI can help travellers follow automatically-generated plans, alleviating the burden on tour operators. It also aids in providing cultural insights to avoid faux pas.”
Linh further illustrated AI’s potential in helping travellers to integrate cultural nuances: “AI can be very useful for understanding cultural specifics. For instance, if you’re travelling to China and want to avoid cultural misunderstandings, AI can offer insights. AI could also aid travellers with integrating cultural preferences into their bookings during travels away from their home countries, such as the Chinese preference to avoid corner rooms in hotels due to inauspiciousness.”
While appreciating AI’s efficiency and potential for personalisation, students like Coco – a hospitality management student from Dusit Thani College – underscored the irreplaceable value of human interaction, which extends to all generations.
Sharing a simple, yet meaningful example, she asked: “Do you really want AI to sing you a happy birthday song? Or do you want the staff to sing it to you?“