Bangkok, 20 September, 2017 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and two Thai tourism operators are the proud winners of the PATA Gold Awards 2017, bringing to the kingdom four prestigious international accolades.
TAT’s “Village to the World” corporate social responsibility project has won a Gold Award in the CSR category, while the “Blue Paradise Thailand” guidebook has won another Gold Award in the Travel Journalism – Travel Guidebook category.
The other two PATA Gold Awards 2017 for Thailand went to the Elephant Hills Luxury Tented Camps in the Environmental – Ecotourism Project category, and the Thai Show 2013’s Muay Thai Live Bangkok in the Heritage and Culture – Culture category.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor said, “We would like to express our thanks to the PATA Gold Awards 2017 judging panel for these recognitions. These awards are another testament to our success in the development of Thailand’s tourism to sustainability. It will certainly inspire us to strive to do better to make sure that the kingdom’s tourism resources continue to develop in a sustainable manner.”
The “Village to the World” project is a joint effort between TAT and various Thai public and private organisations to showcase 10 specially-selected Thai communities as venues for CSR activities. TAT and its partners believe that the project can address the needs of big businesses wanting to enhance their brand by giving a little back. And by doing so via tourism and related CSR activities, it can help boost income for local communities.
Many of the selected communities in the “Village to the World” project are not familiar to tourists but boast fascinating cultures and unique traditions. Also, these communities are able to give visitors the chance to experience a rural way of life. For a full list of the 10 communities, read: Thailand to promote “Village to the world”.
Meanwhile, the TAT’s “Blue Paradise Thailand” guidebook was produced with an aim of offering people from around the world the opportunity to see the wonderful images of the Thai seas and to learn about the remarkable stories behind those pictures. The guidebook was also published with an objective of raising people’s awareness of natural preservation of the Thai seas and also other seas around the world.
On the Thai tourism operator side, the Elephant Hills Luxury Tented Camps in Surat Thani prides itself as one of the most responsible and sustainable soft-adventure tour operators in Southern Thailand. At the same time, Thai Show 2013’s Muay Thai Live Bangkok was recognised as a genuine advocate of Thai culture though the spectacular and enthralling show of Thai boxing martial arts.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) promotes responsible development of the Asia- Pacific travel and tourism industry, and the annual PATA Gold Awards were established with the aim of recognising exceptional achievement in a range of media to promote the travel industry in the Asia-Pacific region. This year recognises the achievements of 28 separate organisations and individuals, and the awards ceremony was held in Macao SAR on 15 September.
