Shortly after typhoon Haiyan impacted the Philippines on November 8, the PATA Foundation launched an appeal to its members and the tourism community worldwide. The response from the industry surpassed my expectations. Support came from all sectors, geographical regions, and a great number of PATA members and non-members. Numerous PATA Chapters got together and organised fundraising activities, some of which are still ongoing.
The good news is that, as of January 9, 2014, the PATA Foundation has raised in excess of US$33,000.
As Chairman of the PATA Foundation and on behalf of its Board of Trustees, I would like to thank everyone for their generous support.
As promised in the original pledge, the funds will be allocated to tourism recovery. The PATA Foundation Board of Trustees would therefore like to invite all its members, chapters and industry partners who are aware of NGOs or projects supporting the recovery to submit an expression of interest regarding a grant application. The expression of interest should be sent to the PATA Foundation at foundation@pata.org no later than Friday, January 31th.
The PATA Foundation will then send suitable applicants a grant application reference document outlining conditions and procedures for applications. Final grant applications should be submitted to the PATA Foundation no later than February 10, 2014. Projects need to be tourism related and directly benefit people in affected areas of the Philippines. The trustees will review all applications and decide on how to best allocate the funds.
The PATA Foundation looks forward to hearing from you.
Mario Hardy
Chairman, PATA Foundation Board of Trustees