FOUR of 22 awards went to Malaysia at the recent Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) Gold Awards 2008. The coveted awards were presented during the Pata Travel Mart 2008 in Hyderabad, India last month.

Tourism Malaysia won two awards: Marketing Media Awards – Travel Advertisement Broadcast Media for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and Marketing Media Awards – CD Rom for Travel Manual Interactive CD.

The VMY 2007 TV commercial featured the Prime Minister welcoming the world to join in the country’s One Golden Celebration while instilling Malaysian warmth, hospitality and pride against the backdrop of some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

The CD serves as a comprehensive guide for the travel trade to design holiday packages as it contains detailed information on holiday regions.

Another Marketing Media Award went to Sarawak Convention Bureau for its promotional travel video titled Recharge In A New World.

Taylor’s College’s School of Hotel Management’s Empowering Youths For A Brighter Future programme bagged the Education and Training Award.

In addition to the 22 Gold Awards, Pata presented four Grand Awards for “best of show” entries. The categories were Environment, Education and Training, Heritage and Culture and Marketing Campaign.

The Grand Awards were won by Indonesia, Maldives, India and Singapore, respectively.

Pata, the region’s leading travel trade association based in Bangkok, Thailand, helps members develop and increase business opportunities through a wide array of activities done through the Pata brand.