Bangkok has seen a few grand parades in its time, but rarely one quite like this. Last week, the city rolled out the welcome mats and the satay sticks for the PATA Travel Mart 2025 (PTM 2025), a jamboree of deal-making, handshaking and occasional champagne-fuelled optimism that left Asia Pacific tourism looking positively perky.

More than 1,000 delegates from over 50 destinations turned up, ranging from the French, who always manage to look effortlessly chic, to the Americans, who rarely do. There were 400-plus exhibitors from 225 organisations across 30 destinations, half new to the show. Buyers arrived in their hundreds too, 225 of them from 41 source markets — with 65% first-timers, presumably still clinging nervously to their business cards like lifejackets.

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The speeches (and the substance)

“It is my great pleasure to welcome you all,” intoned PATA Chair Peter Semone, looking around at the crowd of jet-lagged delegates gamely pretending they weren’t. “This week, we come together to connect, collaborate, and collectively shape the future of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region.”

Now, Semone has said a variation of that line before, but this year, it hit differently. Perhaps it was the sheer scale: 1,000 delegates flooding Bangkok is no small feat. Or perhaps it was the fact that travel, once battered, now has a new confidence. Either way, the words landed, and not just because the air conditioning in the hall was fighting a losing battle against Bangkok’s humidity.

He also thanked sponsors and partners for their “continued support”, which, translated from conference speak, means that without you, the lights would be out, and we’d all be meeting in a food court.

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Young blood, big ideas

Two days earlier, before the main show began, the PATA Youth Symposium 2025 gathered at Srinakharinwirot University. Over a hundred students turned up to be told they should be “career-ready,” though no one mentioned that being “career-ready” in tourism often means getting up at 3 a.m. to welcome a delayed flight or smiling through a crisis with a keyboard that has stopped working.

Still, their enthusiasm was infectious, and one suspects the industry will need every ounce of their energy in the coming years. After all, the old guard can only keep running on coffee and frequent flyer points for so long.

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Knowledge Forum: brains before buffets

On 26 August, brains were placed firmly before buffets with the PATA Knowledge Forum 2025, themed “Designing Meaningful Tourism for a Changing World.” It was an earnest title, though the sessions proved far from dull. AI, branding, and inclusivity were all dissected with vigour.

Tech evangelists made their case for artificial intelligence, but mercifully stopped short of suggesting robots should replace concierges. (Bangkok concierges, it must be said, would probably out-charm most androids anyway.) Sustainability and inclusivity got their turn in the spotlight too, and rightly so — because a tourism industry without either is one headed straight for obsolescence.

Then came a sweet note of nostalgia: PATA’s soft-launch of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, due in 2026. It was a reminder that while fashions change and buzzwords come and go, PATA has been drumming this same rhythm of collaboration long before hashtags existed.

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Thailand shows off its culinary charm.

When Thais host, they host properly. The Welcome Reception treated delegates to dishes from all four corners of the country — north, south, east, and west, each bite a postcard of flavour. To wash it down, there were cultural performances, a gentle reminder that while balance sheets matter, culture makes travel worth the bother.

The Opening Ceremony the following day was even more theatrical. Dignitaries lined up like contestants in an international pageant: Xiaolong Yang from the Chinese Embassy, Supawan Teerarat from TCEB, Siripakorn Chaewsamoot from DASTA, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes from MGTO, and several others, all sharing the stage. A troupe from Banbenjanat Thaidance then performed to a remastered version of “Peoples of the Pacific”, a tune composed initially for PATA back in 1981. Forty-odd years later, the crowd swayed, or perhaps that was jet lag.

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Gold awards and golden evenings

Later came the PATA Gold Awards 2025 Gala Dinner, staged with Macao’s trademark glitz courtesy of the Macao Government Tourism Office. Awards were handed out, speeches were made, and at least a few delegates mentally calculated how many extra kilos of luggage allowance they’d need to get their trophies home.

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Business is in full swing.

For all the pageantry, PTM is at its heart a marketplace. Over two days, buyers and sellers got down to business in the halls, and while some may have been distracted by Bangkok’s charms, deals were done. “Quality connections matter more than quantity,” declared PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid, and judging by the queues at the coffee stands, quality caffeine mattered most of all.

Still, his point held: this Mart was about trust, collaboration, and conversations that may not make headlines now, but will shape travel itineraries in 2026 and beyond.

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Next stop: Kuching 2026

Before the final bow, Sharzede Datu Haji Askor, CEO of the Sarawak Tourism Board, extended an invitation to Kuching, Malaysia, which will host PATA Travel Mart 2026 from 18 to 20 August. Expect rainforests, riverfronts, and more networking over nasi lemak.

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Conclusion

PATA Travel Mart 2025 was less a trade show and more a spirited declaration that Asia Pacific tourism is back on its feet. It was part cultural festival, part ideas laboratory, and part marathon of coffee-fuelled networking, and it proved, once again, that while tourism is an industry of numbers, it’s still about people at its core.

Bangkok provided the stage, PATA the script, and the delegates the applause. It seems that the encore is already booked in Kuching.

By Prae Lee

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