The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has joined forces with Tripadvisor to launch a global contest to find the next emerging tourist destinations.
The PATA CEO Challenge 2015 will reward two deserving destinations with a promotional campaign worth $500,000 each to showcase the destinations in collaboration with Tripadvisor.
The PATA CEO Challenge 2015 is open to all regions, states, provinces, and second- and third-tier cities worldwide and must show how existing marketing contributes to the sustainable growth of tourism which empowers local communities.
The philosophty behind the Challenge is to promote tourism development and increase visitor footfall to emerging destinations, while showcasing unique attributes such as culture, natural beauty and heritage.
"There are hundreds and thousands of destinations that are known, visited and experienced by world travellers. However, there are even more destinations that are ready to be discovered and deserve to be recognized for their authenticity and beauty," said PATA CEO Mario Hardy.
There are two categories – States, Regions and Provinces and Second-tier/Third-tier Cities with one winner chosen for each.
The awards will be presented during the PATA Aligned Advocacy Dinner, which takes place prior to World Travel Market 2015 in London.
"Our global team will work with the two winners to develop a great digital campaign. It is our aim to support each destination with our knowledge on how travellers are inspired, research and book online and therefore to help the destination to paint their digital story to our global audience," said Sarah Mathews, TripAdvisor head of destination marketing APAC.
