From Left: Dr. Mario Hardy (CEO, PATA), Ms Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes (Director, Macau Government Tourism Office, and Dr. Rokhshad Tavakoli (Senior Lecturer, Taylor’s University)
School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events, Taylor's University has proven once again that we are indeed the No. 1 School in South East Asia for Hospitality and Leisure Management. We are honoured to have won the coveted 2020 PATA Gold Award in the category of "Tourism for All" for its Virtual Tourism for Senior Citizens initiative by Dr. Rokhshad Tavakoli, Senior Lecturer from School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events and it is also the sole PATA Gold Award winner by a Malaysian organisation this year. The prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Awards 2020 Presentation took place virtually with great excitement of the event and the winners.
The Virtual Tourism project is part of the Taylor’s University Flagship Research Programme under the area for physically challenged people and empowering women through VR technology that was inspired for Senior Citizens by the situation where senior citizens are one of those groups that receive less attention from destination marketers.
Tourism Malaysia Director-General, Datuk Musa Yusof cum PATA Malaysia Chapter Chairman extended his warmest congratulations to all PATA Gold Award winners and thanked all of this years participants. "The achievements of this year's winners will hopefully inspire and encourage our industry to create new responsible and sustainable initiatives as we look towards recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the first year that PATA announced the winners live, and it was an absolute pleasure to celebrate the winner of Malaysian representative for PATA Gold Awards 2020, Taylor's University," he said in a statement.
The PATA Gold Awards are a recognition of excellence, innovation, and the best tourism standards in Asia Pacific's travel and tourism industry since its inception in 1984, as out of 121 entries, Taylor’s University is the only organisation in Malaysia to receive the PATA Gold Award this year. Moreover, this award is an addition to the series of PATA Gold Award received by Taylor’s in 2008 and 2015 in the “Education and Training” category.