‘Alone we can do little, together we can do a lot,” this is the rallying call of the newly-installed Philippine Travel Agencies Association President Patria “Pattie” T. Chiong, as the largest and most prestigious travel agency association in the country gears up to the 30th Travel Tour Expo 2023 and the 8th International Travel Trade Expo 2023 from February 3-5, 2023.
One of these challenges, according to Chiong, is the rising demand for more flights for international and local travel. While this development comes as a good sign of an industry in recovery, PTAA, along with other industry players, must meet the growing travel requirements of the public. “While we welcome this problem, we are challenged to cope up and we are trying our very best to do just that,” says Chiong.
A traveler with a passion herself, the well-traveled Chiong shares that her favorite destinations are Scandinavian countries such as Finland, Denmark and Norway. As a veteran practitioner in the industry, she is currently the Vice President of West Gate Travel and Tours Inc. with more than 40 years of experience in the travel and tourism sector.
Later, she joined Guatson International Travel and Tours in 2010. She is the past president of SKAL Manila and past international counsellor for SKAL Philippines, an affiliate of SKAL International, a global organization of travel and tourism professionals. She has successfully won the bid for Manila to host the SKAL Asian Congress in 2015.