Travel industry organisations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to successfully develop and promote travel and tourism in Asia Pacific can now submit entries to the 2012 Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Awards. The winners’ programme will be part of PATA Annual Meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia, April 20-23, 2012.

PATA Interim CEO, Mr Bill Calderwood, said: "The PATA Gold Awards put the spotlight on tourism innovation and excellence. No matter if you are an individual or a travel-related company or organisation, your achievement will be recognised by worldwide media exposure.”

The PATA Gold Awards are open to PATA members and non-members. Winners attract valuable media coverage in various PATA communications channels including PATA e-newsletters, press releases, PATA Compass magazine and social media. Winners will be entitled to leverage the prestigious PATA Gold Awards 2012 logo on their websites and collaterals. The highlights of the winning entries will be on display at the Annual Meeting for delegates to enjoy. Award recipients will be featured in the winners' showcase souvenir CD.

The PATA Gold Awards 2012 are open for submission until December 15, 2011. Judged by panels of experts, the Gold Awards recognise exceptional achievement in six categories:-
 
1) Marketing campaign (six Gold Awards and one Grand Award)
2) Environment (three Gold Awards and one Grand Award)
3) Heritage and Culture (two Gold Awards and one Grand Award)
4) Education and Training (one Gold Award and one Grand Award)
5) Marketing Media (nine Gold Awards)
6) Travel Journalism (four Gold Awards)
 
In total, PATA will present up to 26 PATA Gold Awards and four elite PATA Grand Awards at a special luncheon on April 22 at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Malaysia.

Sponsored by the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) for the past 17 years, the PATA Gold Awards set industry standards for excellence and innovation.
 
Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, Director, MGTO, said: “We are proud to be the longstanding sponsor for this prestigious awards programme. We strongly encourage our industry stakeholders to take this opportunity to 'go for gold' with the PATA Gold Awards 2012.  We look forward to seeing more outstanding projects from diverse backgrounds for the sustainable development and promotion of the travel and tourism industry."
 
PATA Gold Awards details, entry forms and information about past winners are available at PATA.org/goldawards .