Short History of Malaysia & PATA

1951 - The Pacific Interim Travel Association (PITA) was established in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1953 - During the 2nd annual conference, attended by 75 delegates, PITA changed its named to Pacific Area Travel Association or PATA. The name change reflected the growing prominence of the Asia-Pacific region as a focal point of global tourists.


1959 - Malaysia government establishes Tourism Department. There was no ministry yet to solely look into the affairs of tourism.


1961 - Setup of 1st PATA chapters in New Zealand and Hong Kong. The development of the chapter system was an effort to involve professionals in the travel and tourism industry who could not participate in PATA's activities or attend annual conferences and workshops, and to expand PATA's presence in previously untapped markets.


1966 - PATA helps to setup School of Tourism Industry Management for the University of Hawaii. Later, PATA Foundation was also created to help preserve culture and heritage in Asia Pacific.


1972 - Kuala Lumpur hosts PATA annual conference for the first time. That same year, the Tourism Department was upgraded to become TDC.


1974 - TDC Malaysia was established to promote the tourism industry further.


1986 - Malaysia hosted PATA for the 2nd time. It was during this time that PATA changes its name from  Pacific Area Travel Association to Pacific Asia Travel Association to reflect the ever-increasing importance of Asia in commerce and world affairs.


1987 - Fresh from hosting PATA the previous year, the Malaysian Government decided to establish the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism.


2001 - Kuala Lumpur played host to PATA annual conference for the 3rd time.


2004 - The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism was renamed Ministry of Tourism.


2012 - Tourism Malaysia celebrates its 40th anniversary. Tourism Ministry host PATA annual conference for the 4th time.


-Malaysian Reserve.