Connecting the world through stories at the next PATA Youth Symposium in in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The next PATA Youth Symposium, with the theme ‘From Beginning to End: How Stories Connect Us’, will take place on the first day of PATA Travel Mart 2019 on Wednesday, September 18 at M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

The Symposium is organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Human Capital Development Committee in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Tourism National Company and M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University.

“This year’s PATA Youth Symposium aims to inspire the next generation of young tourism professionals to tell their own unique stories by bringing together industry leaders who are passionate about creating a more sustainable and responsible tourism industry,” said PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy. “We are extremely grateful to the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Tourism National Company and M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University for their support for both the event and the development of tomorrow’s tourism leaders.”

Kairat Sadvakasov, Deputy Chairman of Kazakh Tourism JSC, added, “It is a great pleasure to welcome all delegates of the PATA Youth Symposium in Kazakhstan. Our country continues its dedication of empowering the young generation of professionals with up-to-date tourism and hospitality knowledge and skills. Nowadays, the travel and tourism industry is among the top priority industries in Kazakhstan and today’s students can make significant contribution to future sustainable tourism growth. I am confident that the PATA Youth Symposium will offer a great opportunity for both local and international students for networking, professional development and future leadership endeavours.”

“Let me welcome you on the occasion of the opening of the PATA Youth Symposium here, in Nur-Sultan city, Kazakhstan. It is a great honour for M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University to host the PATA Youth Symposium on September 18, 2019. This educational event is indeed, one of the significant events for all of us, which for the first time is organised in a CIS country, namely, in the walls of our University. Kazakhstan stands at the starting point of tourism industry development and now faces an ambitious task to increase its share in GDP to 8% by 2025. We have all the resources to become an attractive tourism destination in the future. The development of tourism depends on many aspects – governmental support, country promotion, investments into tourism infrastructure, and not the least, on fostering the future professionals of the tourism industry,” said Talgat Narikbayev, Chairman of the Board of JSC “M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University”. “This Symposium will have a significant impact on improving professional knowledge of our young generation; they will raise awareness towards a sustainable development of tourism in XXI century. I am sure that this event will contribute to the further integration of our students into the global international environment, will give a stimulus to share creative ideas, and open new horizons for fruitful cooperation.”

The Youth Symposium programme was developed with guidance from Ms. Stephanie Wells, Chair of the PATA Human Capital Development Committee and Chair of the School of Tourism Management, Capilano University, Canada.

Ms. Wells said, “Stories connect us, they build common ground, broaden our minds, teach us our history and help us plan for our futures. I’m excited that storytelling is the theme of the PATA Youth Symposium hosted at M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University. The young tourism professional delegates will hear from destinations, HR professionals and industry, all while gaining insight and examples on the power of a story. They will walk away energized on how to develop their own story with actions they can take immediately.”

Confirmed speakers at the Youth Symposium include Mr. Kairat Sadvakasov; Mr. Talgat Narikbayev; Dr. Mario Hardy; Ms. Stephanie Wells; Mr Vasyl Khomko, Creative Producer and Film Director; Mr. Jason Lin, Chief of Talent, Talent Basket, and Ms Rika Jean-François, Commissioner ITB Corporate Social Responsibility, Competence Centre Travel & Logistics, ITB Berlin.

The symposium includes presentations on ‘#nevertravelled Story from Kazakhstan’, ‘Stay hungry, Stay foolish – Building a Career with your Talent and Passion’ and ‘Bringing Sustainable and Responsible Mind Setting into Tourism – the New Imperative’. The event will close with two interactive roundtable discussions that will empower the students to use the tips and techniques they learned from the day’s speakers.

In recent years the PATA Human Capital Development Committee has organised successful educational events at various institutions including UCSI University Sarawak Campus (April 2010), Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) (September 2010), Beijing International Studies University (April 2011), Taylor’s University, Kuala Lumpur (April 2012), Lyceum of the Philippines University, Manila (September 2012), Thammasat University, Bangkok (April 2013), Chengdu Polytechnic, Huayuan Campus, China (September 2013), Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai Campus, China, (May 2014), Royal University of Phnom Penh (September 2014), Sichuan Tourism School, Chengdu (April 2015), Christ University, Bangalore (September 2015), University of Guam, USA (May 2016), President University, BSD-Serpong (September 2016), Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (May 2017), Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) (September 2017), Gangneung-Wonju National University, Korea (ROK) (May 2018), Langkawi, Malaysia (September 2018), and Cebu, Philippines (May 2019).

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