Published on : Tuesday, July 24, 2018
This year’s awards, supported and sponsored by the Macao Government Tourism Office, had 200 entries from 87 organizations and individuals from around the world. The winners were selected by an independent judging committee consisting of 14 senior executives from the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. The MVA’s award was presented under the Education and Training category.
MVA managing director Christopher A. Concepcion said, “This is a tremendous honor for the MVA and the Marianas as a whole to have won this PATA Gold Award. To have won it among 200 other competitors is humbling. This program [Official Marianas Guide] has been in the books for many, many years and we finally were able to roll it out a couple years ago with great success.” He added, “We thank all those involved from this program’s infancy to what it is today for their hard work and perseverance. We thank our partners at Northern Marianas College for carrying out the training portion of this program. I want to especially thank our Tour Guide Certification manager and our entire team at the MVA for a job well done. This program is still new and there is still a long way to go to get everyone into compliance, to streamline the process for new and existing guides and operators, but we will get there slowly but surely.”
The PATA Grand Awards are presented to outstanding entries in four principal categories: Marketing; Environment, Heritage and Culture; and Education and Training.
Dr. Mario Hardy, PATA CEO said, “On behalf of PATA, I would like to congratulate the 2018 PATA Grand and Gold Award winners, as well as all of this year’s participants for their submissions. This year’s winners exemplify the true values of the association in working toward a more responsible travel and tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region.”
The awards ceremony will be held in Langkawi, Malaysia on Sept. 14 during PATA Travel Mart 2018.
Tags: PATA Gold Award