Bangkok--June 24--WTTC
Bangkok-based travel industry researcher and analyst Imtiaz Muqbil has
been appointed Representative, South & Southeast Asia, of the World
Travel & Tourism Council, effective 1 July.
Reporting to WTTC President Geoff Lipman, Mr Muqbil will be
responsible for advancing and communicating WTTC policies in nearly 20
countries of the region.
A graduate of the London School of Journalism, Mr Muqbil, 41, started
his professional journalism career in the Middle East where he worked
in the 1970s for Newsweek magazine, McGraw-Hill World News, the Middle
East Economic Digest and other local and international publications.
He moved to Bangkok in 1978 and reported for numerous travel industry
and consumer publications on the rising tide of tourism all through
the 1980s.
The author of two books on Thai tourism, Mr Muqbil has also written
several tourism-related research papers and studies for the UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Pacific
Asia Travel Association and the World Tourism Organisation. In 1997,
he won a PATA Gold Award for “outstanding reporting” of the
Asia-Pacific travel and tourism industry.
An Indian national by birth, Mr Muqbil is a permanent resident of
Thailand where he will continue to be based. He is married with a son,
15, and a daughter, 11.
Commented WTTC President Geoffrey Lipman, ‘We welcome Mr Muqbil on the
WTTC team. His experience in the South and Southeast Asian travel and
tourism industry, plus his familiarity with the region’s social and
cultural traditions, will be a major boost to WTTC's presence and
influence in the fastest growing Travel & Tourism region of the
world.”
The WTTC is a global coalition of 88 Chief Executive Officers from all
sectors of the Travel & Tourism industry, including accommodation,
catering, cruises, entertainment, recreation, transportation and other
travel-related services. Its central goal is to work with governments
to realise the full economic impact of the world’s largest generator
of wealth and jobs -- Travel & Tourism. The Council and its members
undertake top-level missions, make proposals and engage in policy
discussions with government decision-makers.End