Industry stakeholders who have made contributions to responsibly develop and successfully promote travel-and-tourism in the Asia Pacific region can now submit entries to the 2011 Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Awards programme. The programme will be part of PATA's 60th Anniversary Celebration and Conference, to be held from April 9-12, 2011 in Beijing, China. Sponsored by Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) for the past 16-years, the PATA Gold Awards set industry standards for excellence and innovation. PATA Gold Awards details, entry forms and information about past winners are available at www.PATA.org/goldawards.

PATA Gold Awards 2011 are open for submission until October 31, 2010. Judged by panels of experts, the Gold Awards recognise exceptional achievement in six broad categories: - Marketing campaign (six Gold Awards and one Grand Award); Environment (three Gold Awards and one Grand Award); Heritage and Culture (two Gold Awards and one Grand Award); Education and Training (one Gold Award and one Grand Award); Marketing Media (nine Gold Awards); Travel Journalism (four Gold Awards).

According to the release, in total, PATA will present up to 25 PATA Gold Awards and four elite PATA Grand Awards at a special luncheon on April 11, during PATA's 60th Anniversary Celebration and Conference, Beijing, China.

The highlights of the winning entries will be on display at the conference for delegates to enjoy, and award recipients will be featured in the 'winners' showcase' souvenir booklet. PATA Gold Award winners will attract invaluable media coverage via PATA press releases and will be entitled to leverage the prestigious PATA Gold Awards 2011 logo on their websites and collaterals.

Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, Director, MGTO said, "The 2011 PATA Gold Awards are now open for entries. We strongly encourage our industry stakeholders to take this opportunity to present their outstanding work."