The COVID-19 pandemic has brought travel and tourism to a near-standstill, and no one is sure when it will restart. Already, the World Travel and Tourism Council has warned the pandemic could cut 50 million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry, with Asia being the worst affected. As the world starts to define a new normal, new trends are expected to develop in the tourism sector, including the promotion of local tourism as a substitute for outward travel.
Mr. Aturo P. Boncato, Jr. is currently Undersecretary of Department of Tourism for Tourism Regulation, Coordination and Resource Generation. The TRCRG sector oversees operations of 16 regional offices all over the country, the Office of Tourism Standards and Regulation and the Office of Industry Manpower Development.
He is DOT's convergence champion for Tourism Road Infrastructure Program with DPWH and DOT - DoTr Convergence Program on Airport Development. He is DOT's alternate representative to the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force, Manila Bay Rehabilitation and other rehabilitation projects relative to environmental sustainability.
Angel Llull Mancas was appointed Vice President and Managing Director for Asia-Pacific in September 2018. He is responsible for growing and running all facets of the Asia and Oceania markets outside of China, which includes leading operations, business development, and executing business strategy across one of Booking.com's fastest-growing regions.
Angel joined Booking.com in 2012 and has served in a variety of regional leadership roles. Most recently, he was Senior Regional Director for North America, based in San Francisco for over 4 years. Prior to this role, he was the Regional Manager for Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Israel and Croatia.
Shasha joined Air Asia in August 2018 and is now the Group Head of Global Affairs, Government Relations & Sustainability. For Global Affairs and Government Relations, she is responsible for the Group's government and public policy strategy in the areas of aviation, trade, tourism and digital within ASEAN and beyond. Her role includes active engagements with governments, international organisations, think tanks and academia in these areas. For Sustainability, she creates long-term stakeholder value through strategies to manage the Groups economic, environmental and social impacts.
Prior to Air Asia, Shasha spent 13 years as an Economist in Bank Negara Malaysia (the Central Bank of Malaysia), with a focus on economic development, international economics and financial sustainability. As a Deputy Director, she led a team of economists that provide robust and timely assessments, forecasts and policy advice for monetary policy, financial policy as well as structural issues to the Malaysian Government. Her career in the central bank also included a stint as a core member of the team that formulated Malaysia's 2010-2020 Financial Sector Blueprint.
Chris Humphrey is a Business Development and Government Relations professional with more than 30 years of experience across the public and private sectors, and over 15 years experience in Asia.
Chris has been with the EU-ASEAN Business Council since 2014, and has overseen a 320% increase in the organisation’s membership, and has led its advocacy efforts across the ASEAN region. Chris also chairs the ASEAN Business Advisory Council’s Trade Facilitation Working Group.
Chris began his varied professional career as a UK Civil Servant where, amongst other things, he was a Private Secretary to a Minister and an Air Services Trade Negotiator covering the Asia Pacific Region.
In close partnership with government, businesses, civil society, and academia, ECCP passionately works to enhance the business environment for both European and Filipino companies.