The 2012 PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Annual Conference was held from April 21 to 22 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A strong delegation of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) officials, travel trade members and students in tourism education from Macau, headed by the Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cecilia Cheung, took part in the event. The Macau delegation comprised over 60 members from MGTO, the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and PATA Macau Chapters, including travel trade and four educational institutions. Organized by PATA, the 2012 PATA Annual Conference opened yesterday (April 21) at the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur, with the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Tan Sri Dato' Haji Muhyiddin Mohamad Yassin, officiating at the opening ceremony. As the incoming PATA Chairman for 2012-2014, MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes also address the delegates in the 2012 PATA Honors and Award session, citing that PATA has been a valuable platform for Macau to promote its tourism image and connect the travel trade to the world. "We have also gotten so much support from PATA in terms of researches, analysis, database and task forces regarding heritage preservation and tourism development, education and training, MICE and currently, positioning of Macau as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure as incorporated in the 12th Five Year Plan of the People's Republic of China," he said. "As the incoming Chairman, I see challenges but also more opportunities in front of me. I am confident of the future of Asia Pacific tourism industry and I am ready to make good use of my capability to lead PATA and move it forward with respect for its rich heritage that spans over 60 years into the NEXT GEN," he added. Following the Opening Ceremony, PATA Outgoing Chairman Hiran Cooray, Chief of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Office Cecilia Cheung and MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes, among other guests, participated in the PATA Gold Awards Lunch and Award Presentation sponsored by MGTO. A total of 27 PATA Grand and Gold Awards were presented on the occasion to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of stakeholders in various tourism industry aspects. MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes congratulated the winners who have shown excellence and dedication in each of their particular fields in his speech. Taking the opportunity to showcase Macau's charm as a destination where visitors create touching moments, MGTO presented promotional videos on its new slogan "Touching Moments Experience Macau" as well as the Macau Grand Prix at the Gold Award Luncheon with live singing performance of the theme songs. Under the theme "Building the Business Beyond Profits", the conference program featured Asia's conscientious entrepreneurs and industry practitioners shared their successful managerial and social entrepreneurship business models and principles to over 600 participants from the travel and tourism industry. A highlight of the conference was the Social Entrepreneurs' Challenge, of which a team of three students from the Institute of Tourism Studies (IFT) in Macau were among the 3 short listed candidate groups and won the "Audience's Choice Award" with their project. The Challenge is a business plan competition which targeted at undergraduate tourism students at PATA member education institutions who have been tasked to present new and socially responsible business ideas as investment-ready business models for companies. Prior to the opening of the 2012 PATA Annual Conference, the PATA Executive Board and PATA Board Meeting was held from April 19 to 20, including a PATA Chapter Colloquium where two new Student Chapters, the PATA Malaysia Taylor's Student Chapter and PATA Macau Student Chapter was announced. A student representative from the IFT spoke on behalf of the PATA Macau Student Chapter stressing how Macau students, as a new generation and energy to the tourism industry, learn from and contribute to the PATA as well as the tourism industry as a whole. As an initiative to encourage more participation of young generation in the tourism industry as advocated in PATA's commitment to adopt "Next Generation" focused approaches to build business for members, PATA, Taylor's University (Division of Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Arts) and the PATA Education Training Committee jointly organized a one-day PATA Youth Tourism Forum with the theme: "Building the Business Beyond Profits, Creating Social and Environmental Value" on April 18 at Taylor's University in Kuala Lumpur. 12 students from the University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology, Institute for Tourism Studies and Macao Polytechnic Institute participated in workshops on hot tourism issues on Green Economy, Innovations in Events, Social Tourism and Tourism Education, interacted with industry leaders and their peers to take home valuable insights. PATA
Founded in 1951, PATA is a non-profit membership association dedicated to building responsible development of the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. Macau has been a member of PATA for over half a century since 1958. PATA has currently more than 900 full members and over 7,000 chapter members around the globe. PATA's membership boasts more than 80 government, state and city tourism bodies, over 40 airlines and cruise lines, and hundreds of travel industry companies.
