It may take some headhunting or this article 🙂 to have Dr. Jens Thraenhart think about an opportunity with his name written all over it.
Peter Semone, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, PATA Chairman, knows headhunting as the Founder & President of Destination Human Capital Limited.
He contacted his members today, alerting them the organization is looking for a new CEO after former PATA CEO Liz Origuera surprisingly resigned on February 26.
This is after PATA continues with planned activities, such as the upcoming PATA annual Summit and Adventure Mart at the Pokhara Grande Hotel in Pokhara, Nepal.
Kudos must be given to the devoted staff at PATA, especially its Chairman, CFO, and Chief of Staff, for holding on and waiting for the right leader to help put PATA back on track.
With China opening up again and Southeast Asia touting the fastest-growing middle class, Asia will be an essential region for global tourism.
This is a chance for PATA to raise its bar again to become the association leader for the Pacific Asia Tourism region.
With a changing global landscape, from the vitality of sustainable and regenerative tourism and climate change, the importance of innovative collaborative marketing and storytelling, and the emergence of new technologies from the Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence, the new PATA needs a leader to understand all of this.
This new PATA leader should be genuinely passionate about sustainability, inclusivity, and climate resilience; be an expert on digital transformation and data intelligence; be a trailblazer when it comes to innovative marketing campaigns; and also know how to work with governments and have international relationships and experience.
PATA would have a chance to get its old glory back as the undisputed leader in Asia Pacific Tourism.
The new PATA leader should not be selected based on gender and race.
The new head of the Pacific Asia Travel Association needs to be selected based on meeting these critical requirements for the visitor economy in Asia Pacific and beyond to come together.
The new leader needs to appreciate public-private partnerships and understand the big companies, NGOs, and small and micro social enterprises.
The new PATA head needs to understand the complexities of working with governments and comprehend the value academia brings to the table in building back the industry and solving the issues of labor shortage and the future of work in the travel and hospitality industry.
Asia can and should be a bridge to the world, bringing together the East and West, from Europe and the Middle East to North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.
Relationships with global organizations such as UNWTO, WTTC, GSTC, and WTN will be critical.
The PATA Chairman, Peter Semone, and his selection committee have a task more important than they might realize. Their task goes way beyond just finding the next CEO of PATA.
When resumes pour in for this coveted position, the industry will hold its breath for the right person to be appointed, not just for PATA, not just for the travel industry in Asia Pacific, but for the global visitor economy.
Who could be the ideal candidate as the new PATA CEO?
Juergen Steinmetz, Chairman of the World Tourism Network (WTN) and Publisher of eTurboNews, thinks a WTN Tourism Hero has PATA CEO written all over his forehead – Dr. Jens Thraenhart.
Dr. Jens Thraenhart is the Vice Chair of the UNWTO Affiliate Members, a Board Member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and the current Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Marketing, Inc. (BTMI).
He has been recognized as someone who has been showcasing Barbados on the global map. He managed to unite Caribbean tourism leaders to emphasize tourism as a sustainable industry with enormous responsibilities in this field.
With impressive short-term successes from winning the Green Destinations Award in the category of climate change and the environment, the launch of an innovative employee engagement program, a data and performance measurement process, and strong recovery numbers coming out of COVID, this just might make him ready to return to Asia, where he headed up Mekong Tourism for nearly 8 years prior.
Previously, the 6 governments of the Greater Mekong Subregion extended his contract for 4 consecutive terms.
During his time at the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, he developed the private sector-led tourism board, Destination Mekong, co-founded the Destination Film Forum, and was recognized for several innovative initiatives, including the Experience Mekong Collection, the collaborative campaign platform Mekong Moments, and the MIST innovation and startup program.
He also completed his doctorate part-time at the prestigious Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Before Mekong Tourism, based in Bangkok, he spent 5 years in Beijing, China, where he founded the award-winning Travel technology and marketing agency Dragon Trail, and where he was also the Chair of PATA China.
Of course, Jens is very familiar with PATA, having served nearly 10 years on its board and being engaged with the PATA staff for years.
After former PATA CEO Liz Origuera surprisingly resigned on February 26, committed PATA staff at its Bangkok Headquarters continued to run the organization without a “boss.”
Today, Steinmetz thinks Jens Thraenhart could be the ideal new CEO for the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
The new CEO of the Caribbean Tourism Board
Steinmetz added: ” I am not sure what Jens’ plans are. He may be at a crossroads in Barbados, having positioned this destination on a good path forward for local leadership to take the destination to the next chapter.
“I always saw Jens as a global player. Therefore, Jens could make an ideal new leader for the Caribbean Tourism Organization. CTO is also looking for a new CEO, and CTO is based in Barbados.”
The News World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) CEO
Recently, Juergen Steinmetz predicted that Manfredi Lefebvre would become the next WTTC Chairman.
This year, the global travel and tourism community may see some exciting leadership shifts.
