Hotelier James Mabey Wins PATA’s Face of the Future 2013

Mr James Mabey

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 received the honour at an official award ceremony that took place on 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.

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  received 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 took place at Siam Discovery Plaza. It was hosted by Siam Center and was supported by Thai Beverage PLC.