Originally from the UK, Hannah has called Asia her home for the last ten years. She has a diverse tourism background, from building up outbound travel at one of the largest travel agencies in Malaysia, sales repping, founding her own travel startup, and subsequently starting a consulting firm. Hannah has authored reports and whitepapers on tourism, and has spoken on numerous occasions at prestigious travel conferences such as ITB-Asia.
She is also the co-host of podcast The South East Asia Travel Show. In her free time, she loves to explore Malaysia's delicious food with her husband and two sons and hit the trails for a spot of running when she gets the chance.
Hannah joined the ATTA team in January 2022, taking on the Asia Region with the exciting mission to plan our next Adventure Travel World Summit in Japan in 2023, and to develop relationships and partnerships with Asia destinations and build the Adventure Travel community there.
We are now very excited to see her adding Oceania to her portfolio — two regions well connected and with great opportunities to build bridges. Being based in the region will also make Hannah a great asset to the community.
Meet Hannah Pearson, our lovely and smart new APAC Regional Director for ATTA through a few interview questions.
When I say Oceania, how does the word inspire you?
Wide, open spaces, unique Indigenous traditions and jaw dropping scenery. It packs a lot into one region: islands, volcanoes, deserts, glaciers and diverse wildlife who call the region home.
Have you been to this part of the world?
Originally from the UK, Oceania always seemed so far away, but living in Malaysia means that I am much closer, and I had the chance to visit Western Australia in 2019 with my family. I absolutely loved it - I brought along my 18 month old son, and was blown away by how family friendly Perth was, with playgrounds around every corner. And the food was magnificent, too!
How do you envision Adventure Travel in the Pacific Region?
For me, the Pacific Region IS adventure travel in action, and I believe that destinations around the world can learn a lot from how governments in the Pacific Region approach it.
New Zealand and Australia are of course the best-known adventure destinations to travelers outside of the region, but there are so many other countries to explore. That's an aim of mine as the new APAC regional director - to keep finding ways to highlight new experiences to our global adventure travel community.
If you could choose, what would be your 3 main goals for our thriving community in the region?
- Grow the community, from buyers to suppliers, and everyone else in between
- Support our members to maximize their membership with ATTA - there are plenty of perks which are not being taken advantage of enough!
- See a strong Oceania presence at next year's 2023 ATWS in Hokkaido, Japan - with the summit coming to Asia, I'd love to see a crowd of Pacific Regioners
Thank you Hannah and Welcome to Oceania!
