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The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) proudly announces the ratification of its new Executive Board, with Peter Semone re-elected as Chair for a second consecutive term. The announcement was made at the 73rd PATA Annual General Meeting.
Peter Semone, a renowned tourism development expert in the Asia Pacific region, expressed his gratitude: “It is an honor to be elected by members of the PATA Board of Directors to lead the Association for a second term. Thanks to the strong commitment of the Secretariat staff and outgoing Executive Board members, significant progress has been made in regard to PATA’s finances and management over the past two years. Much work remains to be done, and I am confident that the new Executive Board will rise to this challenge.”
Mr. Semone's extensive experience includes leadership roles in international donor-funded projects in Timor-Leste, Lao PDR, and Vietnam. He is also a frequent consultant for UN Tourism and the Asian Development Bank, and he is the founder of the Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (LANITH). A graduate of UPENN and Cornell, Semone has established several tourism enterprises in Indonesia and served as an expert adviser to the Indonesian government. He is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and has authored numerous tourism policies and strategies. He enjoys spending his free time with his family in Bali and California.
Alongside Mr. Semone, the new Executive Board includes Suman Pandey as Vice Chair and Luzi Matzig as Secretary/Treasurer.
Suman Pandey is a well-known figure in Nepalese tourism and President of Explore Himalaya Travel and Adventure, a well-known name for diverse and innovative operations. He is also the CEO of Fishtail Air, a Nepalese helicopter company; Director of Summit Air, a fixed-wing operator catering to tourists going to the Mt. Everest area; Director of the biggest business complex in Nepal, “Chhaya Centre," a multi-faceted mega-complex that includes a five-star hotel managed by Starwood under the “Aloft” brand; President of the Himalaya Academy of Travel and Tourism, an academy imparting tourism-related vocational training; and President of Himalayan Pre-Fab Pvt. Ltd., a company specializing in making eco-friendly prefabricated homes.
His remarkable contributions to the Nepalese tourism industry have made him eligible for various titles and decorations, including “Suprasidha Gorkha Dakshin Bahu" from the King of Nepal in 2004; “Tourism Icon” by the Nepal Association of Tourism Journalists in 2018; a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by tourism publication Gantabya Nepal in 2017; “Tourism Man of the Year” by Gantabya Nepal in 2010; and a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for contributions in tourism by the “American Biographical Institute” (ABI) based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, in 2008, to name a few.
Luzi Matzig began his career with Swissair ground operations in Zurich, Switzerland, and had subsequent postings in London and Berne. In 1971, he moved to Thailand and worked for Diethelm Travel in Bangkok, rising to General Manager and later Group Managing Director, overseeing operations in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Yunnan/China. In September 1999, he founded Asian Trails Ltd. and is currently the chairman. The Asian Trails Group now operates 33 offices with over 500 staff across Thailand, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Vietnam.
In addition to managing Asian Trails, Mr. Matzig is involved in the cruise and hotel industries, with ventures including Cruise Asia Ltd., Paradise Ko Yao Resort, Treehouse Villas, Legend Chiang Rai Boutique Resort and Spa, Paradise Beach Samui Resort, Sunset House, and the Royal Sands Koh Kong Resort. He established VIP Jets Ltd. for executive air transport in Asia. Mr. Matzig serves on the Board of the Swiss-Thai Chamber of Commerce, where he was President for 2.5 years, and has held leadership roles in the PATA Thailand Chapter.
Members of the Executive Board for this term include Ben Montgomery, Director of Business Relations Management, Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand; Henry Oh, Chairman, Global Tour Ltd., Korea (ROK); Noredah Othman, CEO, Sabah Convention Bureau, Malaysia; Mayur Patel, Head of Asia, OAG, Singapore; Gerald Perez, Vice President, Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam; and SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications Private Limited, India.
This diverse and experienced team is set to continue driving PATA's mission forward, focusing on sustainable tourism development across the Asia-Pacific region.
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