The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Peter A. Semone as Vice President for Development. At the same time, Ms. Lyn Hikida has been promoted to Vice President of Operations from her previous role as PATA's Chief Communications Officer. Effective immediately, both positions are based at PATA Headquarters in Bangkok.
Mr. Semone will be responsible for the Association's membership development and retention programmes, working closely with PATA's regional directors and other staff to expand the value and benefits of PATA membership.
"We are delighted to welcome Peter Semone to the team," said Mr. Peter de Jong, President and CEO of PATA. "He is a talented individual who has demonstrated a real commitment to quality in Pacific Asia travel and tourism. Peter's wide range of travel industry experience, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, make him the ideal person for this key leadership position."
Prior to joining PATA, Mr. Semone served as Managing Director of PT. Bali Triloka Candra, an Indonesia-based destination management company. A resident of Asia for more than a decade, he co-founded a number of adventure tourism enterprises in Indonesia in the early 1990s. Mr. Semone has worked as an analyst for Horwath Asia Pacific in Hong Kong SAR, and has been a frequent visiting lecturer in destination management and tourism economics at the Institute For Tourism Studies in Macao. As a PATA member, Mr. Semone has served on the PATA Board of Directors, Industry Council, Vision 2025 and Banten task forces, and as Chairman of the Education Committee. Mr. Semone holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MMH in Tourism Development from Cornell University's School of Hospitality Management.
In her new role as Vice President of Operations, Ms. Hikida will oversee the areas of communications, membership administration and information technology. Prior to joining PATA in 1995, Ms. Hikida served as an editor for U.S. travel trade and consumer magazines. She graduated from Tufts University with degrees in Asian Studies and English, and she is an alumna of the Radcliffe Publishing Course. A current board member of SKAL International-Bangkok, Ms. Hikida was named one of "The Most Powerful Women in Travel" in 1999 by Travel Agent magazine.
"These two appointments are part of a multi-phase restructuring for PATA," said Mr. de Jong. "Our priority is to enhance services for our members while making the most of our available resources."
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