Mr
James Mabey is the recipient of the most prestigious honour for young
tourism professionals in Asia Pacific - the Pacific Asia Travel
Association (PATA) Face of the Future 2013 award.
Mr
Mabey is the Senior Director of Development for Marco Polo Hotels,
based in Hong Kong.
Mr
Mabey is set to receive the honour at an official award ceremony
taking place April 25 in Bangkok on the eve of the PATA Annual Summit
in Bangkok. Courtesy of IMEX (the worldwide exhibition for incentive
travel, meetings and events), Mr Mabey will be offered complimentary
registration and subsidised travel to attend IMEX 2013 in Frankfurt,
Germany, May 21-23.
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| James Mabey |
At
Marco Polo Hotels, he is responsible for the company's growth and
development across the Asia Pacific region. Marco Polo Hotels, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of The Wharf (Holdings) Ltd, owns and
operates hotels across Asia Pacific. Mr Mabey has over a decade of
business consulting and real-estate development experience in the
region, and was previously Director of Development for Jumeirah
Private Island, Phuket. He also served as Economic and Tourism
Development Advisor to the Thailand Ministry of the Interior and
Phuket Governor's Office from 2005 to 2011.
A
native of the US, Mr Mabey holds a MBA in Hospitality and Tourism,
and is completing a Doctorate in Hospitality and Tourism Management
from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a frequent speaker at
major industry conferences and events and the author of multiple
published articles and studies on hotel development. He has lived in
Asia since 1999. He is fluent in Thai, Mandarin, Spanish and Laotian.
Mr
Mabey said: “I am honoured to be the recipient of this prestigious
award. Having spent almost half of my life in Asia-Pacific and worked
in more than a dozen countries, I have seen, first hand, the benefits
that responsible tourism development can bring to communities. I have
long admired PATA's steadfast commitment to building responsible
development in the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. I am
delighted to have this opportunity to be a part of PATA's long
tradition of excellence.”
He
added: “For nearly 15 years, I have been fortunate to have
incredible opportunities to lead teams in hotel development, teach
students hospitality and tourism, advise government leaders and study
hospitality and tourism management at leading universities. I hope to
leverage these experiences to promote greater cooperation and
coordination between hospitality and tourism stakeholders. I will
continue to develop and support initiatives that enable stakeholders
to come together and utilise the power of hospitality and tourism for
the benefit of travellers and their host communities.”
Mr
Mabey will receive the award at a social function on April 25 called,
“PATA and the Siam Center: Next Generation Synergy,” which is
being held to celebrate PATA's 15 th Anniversary in Bangkok. The
event will take place at Siam Discovery Plaza. It is hosted by Siam
Center and is supported by Thai Beverage PLC.
