PATA Face of the Future 2026: Bhutan’s Lizam Dorji Wins at PTM

KUCHING, Sarawak, Malaysia — Bhutanese tourism executive Lizam Dorji has been named the PATA Face of the Future 2026, putting a new generation of Asia-Pacific tourism leadership in the spotlight as PATA Travel Mart 2026 gets underway in Kuching, Sarawak.

Dorji, CEO of MICE Bhutan, a subsidiary of Druk Asia, was selected as the Grand Winner of the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s prestigious award for emerging tourism leaders. PATA said the recognition reflects her leadership, innovation and commitment to building a more meaningful and sustainable tourism industry.

The award has been presented since 2002 and is PATA’s highest recognition for young and emerging professionals in the travel and tourism sector.

PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid congratulated Dorji and said this year’s competition attracted a record number of applications, with the quality of candidates making the judging particularly challenging.

Dorji’s recognition is particularly significant for Bhutan as the Himalayan kingdom seeks to develop tourism without losing sight of the environmental, cultural and social principles that have long shaped its approach to the visitor economy.

Before returning home, Dorji spent more than five years in Thailand with the Royal Cliff Hotels Group and Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall. Her experience included international conferences, United Nations events, corporate meetings and conventions involving as many as 4,000 participants.

She subsequently brought that international experience back to Bhutan, where she is working to expand the country’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions sector.

Her vision goes beyond simply attracting events. Dorji wants MICE tourism to generate professional opportunities for young Bhutanese while positioning the country as a venue for meaningful international dialogue.

That philosophy is also visible in projects outside the conference business. Her work includes a partnership with Bhutan’s Youth Development Fund to plant 2,664 flowering trees with visitors over three years and collaboration with the Department of Culture to support the revitalisation of three nationally significant museums.

As PATA Face of the Future 2026, Dorji will serve on the PATA Board for one year beginning in 2027, giving the association’s younger tourism community a voice at leadership level.

For Dorji, the recognition is also an opportunity to promote a broader idea of what tourism — and particularly business events — can accomplish.

She said tourism can become a catalyst for positive change, with business events creating cultural exchange and supporting local communities while reflecting Bhutan’s philosophy of sustainability and Gross National Happiness. She hopes the award will encourage other young professionals to see tourism not merely as a career but as a means of protecting cultural heritage, strengthening host communities and preserving the environment.

PATA also presented four Special Recognitions highlighting different dimensions of next-generation tourism leadership.

Abdulla Iyaan Ahmed of the Maldives received the Student Excellence recognition. A final-year International Tourism Management student at Taylor’s University in Malaysia and former President of the PATA Malaysia Taylor’s Student Chapter, Ahmed has been active in student leadership, professional development and sustainability initiatives.

Orawan Dinsor of Thailand, Team Leader – Travelplan (Latin Markets) at Asian Trails, received the Strategic Management recognition. She leads operations serving more than 1,000 Spanish travellers each month and was recognised for combining operational management with collaboration, adaptability and customer experience.

Alevtina Borodulina, Lead Heritage Consultant at Aquamarine Projects, was recognised for Leadership. A social anthropologist, Borodulina has worked on heritage and community-engagement projects and spent six months conducting ethnographic fieldwork with Sarawak’s Bidayuh Indigenous community as part of a tourism masterplan.

Uyanga Galbadrakh of Mongolia, Co-Founder and CEO of WildMongolia, received the Sustainability Initiatives recognition. After a career in IT and strategy consulting in Tokyo, she returned to Mongolia and developed a tourism model intended to make traditional nomadic livelihoods economically sustainable. PATA says WildMongolia’s locally led Pop-Up Ger Camp has supported 50 families directly and more than 300 people indirectly since April 2025.

Together, the five honorees illustrate a notable shift in Asia-Pacific tourism leadership: away from measuring success solely through visitor volume and toward community benefit, cultural preservation, sustainability, professional development and purposeful growth.

The awards coincide with PATA Travel Mart 2026 (PTM 2026), which officially opened August 18 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching and continues through August 20.

For the first time, PATA’s flagship travel trade event is being held in Sarawak.

More than 1,100 delegates from 48 countries and destinations are participating. The marketplace brings together 221 buyers representing 215 companies from 29 source markets and more than 365 sellers representing over 200 organisations and destinations.

Across the two principal Travel Mart days, buyers and sellers are scheduled to conduct more than 4,000 business appointments, making Kuching a temporary hub for tourism contracting, destination development and international market connections.

PTM 2026 is organised by PATA, endorsed by Sarawak’s Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, hosted by the Sarawak Tourism Board and supported by Business Events Sarawak.

PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid has framed the decision to take the Travel Mart beyond the region’s traditional gateways as part of a broader strategy to connect smaller and emerging destinations directly with international tourism markets.

That approach gives this year’s gathering an importance beyond the exhibition floor. Holding PTM in Sarawak puts international buyers face-to-face with a destination whose tourism proposition is closely connected to Indigenous heritage, biodiversity, gastronomy, culture, nature and adventure.

The program extends considerably beyond buyer-seller appointments.

Activities began August 17 with the PATA Youth Symposium, bringing university students and young tourism professionals together for industry discussions and learning. Community-based and experiential activities continue as participants explore Sarawak and its tourism development.

The August 17 program also included PATA’s Executive Board and Board Members networking activities, Life Members gathering, Chapter and Student Chapter Awards, and the Face of the Future Awards.

On August 18, the PATA Knowledge Forum is being held under the theme “The Next Era: Impactful Partnerships, Purposeful Growth.”

Discussions cover partnerships, technology, business innovation, communities, culture, purposeful development and the creation of meaningful tourism experiences — themes that closely mirror the work for which Dorji and the four Special Recognition winners have been honoured.

PATA Executive Board and Board meetings are also taking place in Kuching alongside the Travel Mart.

Sarawak Tourism Board CEO Dr Sharzede Datu Haji Salleh Askor sees PTM as an opportunity to move international perceptions of Sarawak beyond what delegates encounter at a conventional tourism exhibition.

By exposing visiting travel professionals directly to Sarawak’s communities, food, culture, natural environment and adventure products, the destination hopes buyers will return to their markets with the knowledge needed to incorporate more Sarawak experiences into future programmes and itineraries.

Sarawak Tourism Board has been a PATA member since 1981, with the relationship extending into tourism development, sustainability, resilience, biodiversity conservation and capacity building.

The location therefore fits the wider message emerging from PTM 2026.

Asia-Pacific tourism is changing. Traveller expectations, technology, source markets and business models are shifting, while destinations face increasing pressure to demonstrate that tourism growth benefits local communities and protects the assets on which the visitor economy depends.

Against that background, recognizing Lizam Dorji in Kuching is more than another tourism industry award.

A Bhutanese executive developing meaningful business events, a Maldivian student leader focused on sustainable tourism, a Thai manager connecting international markets, a heritage specialist working with Indigenous communities and a Mongolian entrepreneur using tourism to sustain nomadic livelihoods represent five very different corners of Asia-Pacific tourism.

Reporting originally appeared via eTurboNews. Read the full source for additional context.