New Media Mania

Tomorrow I leave the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in good spirits knowing that over five and a half years I have contributed to an organisation that does some outstanding work for travel and tourism in Asia Pacific.

In fact, I hope to stay engaged with PATA in some capacity in my new role as “knowledge management and communications specialist” with the ASEAN Competitiveness Enhancement (ACE) Project; and hope that together we can do so much more.

One of my most recent achievements at PATA, and probably the one I’m most proud of (despite it being almost as easy as this blog to set up) is creating PATA’s Sustainable Tourism Wiki [which has since become The "Good Tourism" Wiki].

Having watched Wikipedia become one of the hottest URLs in cyberspace in recent years it became blindingly obvious to me that the wiki model was perfect for PATA and its efforts to deal with the huge subject area called “sustainable tourism“.

“Sustainable” and “responsible” are two words the Association has in its mission statement:-

“… a membership association acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. In partnership with PATA’s private and public sector members, we enhance the sustainable growth, value and quality of travel and tourism to, from and within the region. “

Interpret that any way you like, but to me the spirit of PATA’s mission includes educating the travel and tourism industry about best practices in maximising the “triple bottom line“, and of course to do that you need to know what the best practices are.

However, limited resources restrict the Association’s ability to pursue traditional methods of compiling appropriate research and case studies, verifying bona fides, and publishing it. (Of course, solid partnerships with member organisations, such as GTZ, SNV, and STCRC, alleviates this somewhat.)

A wiki, on the other hand, enables PATA stakeholders—and those who would otherwise not engage with the Association—who are passionate about and expert on issues pertaining to sustainable tourism, to share and discuss latest theories and case studies with people of like mind.

Unlike a blog, a wiki does not rely on a single content provider, except in the early stages to allow a community to build. Then, once a sustainable community (pardon the pun) is formed, there is potentially a lot of knowledge that can come together at one place with relatively little effort expended by PATA.

Should the Wiki successfully evolve into a credible and respected body of knowledge it could also serve as a powerful weapon in the Association’s advocacy arsenal—a source of authoritative content for blogs, speeches, and white papers.

The synergies offered by PATA’s Sustainable Tourism Wiki, and the benefits Association members and other industry stakeholders could potentially derive from it, lie inherent in O’Reilly’s definition of “Web 2.0″ (which has become an irritating buzzword for many): “openness”, “networking effects” and the harnessing of “collective intelligence”.

Even while in recent weeks the deepening concerns of global finance have drawn attention away from climate change and sustainability, PATA’s Sustainable Tourism Wiki—with no marketing budget or special effort to promote it—is slowly and steadily building an online community of passionate travel and tourism stakeholders concerned about sustainability. (As I write, there are 170 registered Wiki users.)

That’s a valuable outcome for the Association in terms of positioning itself in the sustainability and climate change space, which in turn is an important issue for all of us!

PATA has since asked me to close down the Wiki. [Visit The "Good Tourism" Wiki instead!]