Bangkok, Thailand, August 25, 2020 / TRAVELINDEX / The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will be announcing the PATA Gold Awards 2020 live during Virtual PTM 2020. Supported and sponsored since 1995 by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), this year’s awards will recognise the achievements of 21 Gold Awards and three Grand Title Winners during the Online PATA Gold Awards Presentation on Thursday, September 24.
The PATA Gold Awards 2020 attracted 121 entries from 62 organisations and individuals worldwide. The winners will be selected by an independent judging committee of 16 personalities from various destinations.
Ms Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of MGTO, said, “I am looking forward to present live the awards to the winners of this year’s edition. The spirit of innovation acknowledged by the PATA Gold Awards is more than ever in high demand, as we are called to unite and revive the industry, amid the unprecedented global disruption brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a tourism city, Macao is proud to continue its long-standing support to PATA, helping to bring to the limelight some of the very best practices in our industry.”
“The winners of the PATA Gold Awards set industry standards for excellence and innovation, and provides the Association with the perfect opportunity to recognise and reward the very best the Asia Pacific travel industry has to offer. I encourage all industry stakeholders to join us in celebrating the achievements of all the winners. I am truly excited to see who will be this year’s winners and wish all submissions the best of luck,” said PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy. “Furthermore, we are sincerely grateful to MGTO for once again sponsoring the PATA Gold Awards and for their continued commitment to a responsible and sustainable tourism industry.”
PATA will present 21 Gold Awards and three Grand Title Winners for best of show entries in the following broad categories: Marketing, Sustainability and Human Capital Development. This year, PATA has enhanced the PATA Gold Awards by introducing several new categories in order to reinforce its position as an innovative and prestigious award for the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. New categories include Climate Change Initiative, Tourism for All, and Youth Empowerment Initiative.
Virtual PTM is a business-to-business travel contracting and virtual networking event that both mirrors and enhances the features of the long-standing PTM, which boasts over four decades of experience in connecting qualified international buyers and sellers from all of Asia and the Pacific region though pre-matched business appointments.
Virtual PTM is being organised in conjunction with the Sichuan International Travel Expo with the support of the Leshan Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau and is powered by official virtual partner Dragon Trail Interactive.
About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its more than 800 member organisations, including 95 government, state and city tourism bodies, 20 international airlines and airports, 102 hospitality organisations and 70 educational institutions, as well as thousands of young tourism professional (YTP) members across the world. The PATA network also embraces the grassroots activism the PATA Chapters and Student Chapters, who organise numerous travel industry training programmes and business development events across the world. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 35 local PATA Chapters worldwide, while hundreds of students are members of the 22 PATA Student Chapters globally. The PATA mPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing and London. PATA’s Annual Theme for the 2020 calendar year is ‘Partnerships for Tomorrow’.