Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) is gearing up for the much-awaited first Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Academy programme in the Maldives.

The programme — the first PATA Human Capacity Building Programme to be conducted outside its home base of Thailand — will be themed ‘Exploring the Art of Storytelling’, and will take place from July 12-13 at Bandos Island Resort.

“Good stories surprise us. They make us think, feel, relate and understand. They stick in our minds and help us remember ideas and concepts in a way that numbers and text on a slide with a bar graph don’t. This is the future of marketing and a tool to sustain disappearing culture and heritages,” a statement issued by MATATO read.

Interested parties are required to fill out a registration form and email it to info@matato.org.

Participation costs USD 399, but MATATO members are eligible for a 10 percent discount while students are given a 30 percent discount. As a limited number of 30 seats is available, registration will be confirmed on first-come-first serve basis.

The programme, based on the successful PATA Academy event held in December at the association’s Engagement Hub in Bangkok, delivers an intensive and interactive training programme incorporating a series of classroom interactions conducted by leading travel industry experts coupled with practical activities, group assignments and networking opportunities.

Participants gain hands-on experience by working both individually and on team-based projects where presentations are shared at the end of the programme. From this intensive high-value training, participants take home practical marketing strategies to be applied and implemented in their respective organisations, including:

• Generating realistic, narrative-driven user stories
• Choosing the most effective medium
• Learning to ask the right questions
• Identifying elements of powerful stories
• Communicating and presenting ideas well to influence and inspire actions

Confirmed speakers at the two-day programme include award-winning Canadian filmmaker Kyle Sandilands, Head of Growth at Triip.me Trevor Weltman, Founder and Head of Product at Scott Experience Design Dung ‘Mos’ Dang, Professional Travel Bloggers Association President Matt Gibson, and PATO CEO Dr Mario Hardy.

The PATA capacity building programme is the association’s in-house outreach initiative for Human Capital Development (HCD) focused on the tourism industry. Leveraging PATA’s network of talented industry leaders worldwide, the programme designs and implements customised training workshops for diverse organisations, including government agencies, non-governmental organisations, educational institutions and private sector businesses.

The training is delivered through innovative adult education learning techniques, including case studies, group exercises, group discussions, instructor presentations and site visits. The facilitators bring knowledge, experience and expertise from a wide range of business sectors and drawn from PATA’s extensive and established network in the tourism industry and beyond.