Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) together with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has organised the second PATA Human Capacity Building Programme in the Maldives, with the theme ‘Growth Hacking: How to Scale Your Business Exponentially’.
In response to the success of the first PATA Human Capacity Building Programme in the Maldives last year, the second event took place on November 22 at the Paradise Island Resort. The event, staged as part of the third edition of the Maldives Travel Conference, brought together 50 travel industry professionals in the Maldives.
Representing PATA were CEO Dr Mario Hardy and Director of Human Capital Development Parita Niemwongse.
The one-day intensive workshop provided participants with an interactive training programme that incorporated a series of classroom sessions conducted by leading travel industry experts coupled with practical activities, group assignments and networking opportunities. The programme content was based upon the successful PATAcademy-HCD at the association’s Engagement Hub in Bangkok.
PATA CEO Dr Mario Hardy said, |We are delighted to have the opportunity to once again partner with MATATO to stage the PATA Human Capacity Building Programme in the Maldives. The theme of this year’s programme, ‘Growth Hacking’, is the perfect extension of our first programme held last year on ‘Exploring the Art of Storytelling’ as it challenges organisations to experiment and re-work traditional marketing and sales strategies to focus upon growth.”
Abdulla Ghiyaz, President of MATATO, said, “MATATO is very proud to partner with PATA for the second time in bringing the PATA Human Capital Development programme in the Maldives. The success and feedback from the first one last year has led the way for hopefully an annual event in the Maldives. The participation this year has been better than last year, and I hope this gives us the opportunity for even more PATA events in the Maldives”
Speakers at the two-day programme included Stu Lloyd, Chief Hothead – Hotheads Innovation, Hong Kong SAR and Vi Oparad, Country Manager – StoreHub, Thailand.
Vi Oparad said, “For my session, I’m hoping for participants to: understand current situation of digital video space, pick the right framework to hack message crafting, and scale their branding through digital video channels. And by the end of the session, participants should have: online video prototypes that can be used as a starting point for future development.”
Stu Lloyd added, “Growth Hacking is a mindset of optimisation. Can we tweak our business and get more engagement or revenue out of what we’re doing? It starts with an experimental attitude and restless dissatisfaction with the status quo, and an attitude that all our products, services, and solutions can be improved. We just don’t know how – so we need to do a lot of testing to see what’s going to work better than we are currently doing. This can be anything from the revenue model to the colour of a hyperlink button.”
The PATA Human Capacity Building Programme is the association’s in-house/outreach initiative for Human Capital Development (HCD) across the broad spectrum of travel and tourism. Leveraging PATA’s network of talented industry leaders worldwide, the programme designs and implements customised training workshops for government agencies, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and private sector businesses.
The training is delivered through innovative adult education learning techniques including case studies, group exercises, group discussions, instructor presentations and site visits.
The facilitators bring knowledge, experience and expertise from a wide range of business sectors and drawn from PATA’s extensive and established network in the tourism industry and beyond.
PATA designs and coordinates the workshop, providing experts who lead and moderate exchanges among participants and offer their own perspectives and experiences. The workshop content and agenda, including the ideal profile and the number of participants, are developed by PATA in close collaboration with the lead institution or organisation.
Launched in 2016 as part of the annual Maldives Travel Awards, the Maldives Travel Conference aims to create a platform in Maldives to lead international dialogue and debate on challenges and opportunities that the tourism industry unfolds.
In 2016, the conference focused on four main topics with the importance of promoting the Maldives overseas, changes to the nation’s luxury travel industry, the ongoing transformation of the archipelago’s tourism sector, and the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry.