The Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, has been awarded by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). She was given the PATA Chair’s Award for her “support, help, loyalty and dedication” to the works of the association to promote a responsible development of the tourism in the Asia Pacific region, during the tenure of the immediate past PATA Chair. The award was announced during the 71st PATA Annual General Meeting held online on 13th May.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said she was “grateful and honoured” for the recognition and she acknowledged that she must share it with her MGTO team “for the efforts made to keep our active engagement in PATA’s initiatives despite the COVID-19 pandemic”. She also dedicated the award to Macao’s tourism industry.
PATA also gave Andrew Jones, the founder and Guardian of Sanctuary Resorts in Hong Kong, the PATA Life Membership award. This is the association’s highest individual honour, recognising significant leadership and invaluable dedication to PATA.
Liz Ortiguera, PATA’s CEO, acknowledged the “valuable contributions and support” of both award recipients to “PATA and the entire travel and tourism industry” and said their achievements “should inspire us all to work harder for the swift recovery of travel and tourism”.