Event organiser denies pay-to-win scheme for travel awards

PETALING JAYA: An event organiser caught in a controversy over its tourism awards slammed as a sham has apologised, claiming it was an “oversight.”

Asia-Pacific Tourism and Travel Federation (APTTF) chief executive officer Adeva Sangkuni defended the credibility of its awards, denying that it had requested winners to pay for prizes awarded to them.

“In all our communication with the winners, we emphasised in writing that no fees are charged for our awards to be presented as APTTF Awards are never for sale, or negotiated with any kind of stipend.

“There was no profit-making from our entry fee collections. It was used to cover our event costs at the venue,” he said, maintaining that winners were picked based on public voting online.

Responding to an exclusive report in The Star on Thursday on its vanity awards, Adeva said the entry fee of RM575 was charged for individual entry to attend awards ceremony on April 11.

“This is part of our business module. It includes the RM4,500 charged for a corporate table seating eight persons,’’ he explained.

The report highlighted concerns over the legitimacy of the APTTF Awards after the supposed award winners reported that the ceremony went awry with VIPs not turning up, and that several of them went home empty-handed.

The participants said they were convinced of the legitimacy of the the event as Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines were said to have endorsed it, but both bodies later denied being affiliated to APTTF.

Adeva said Tourism Malaysia and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi only informed them of their inability to attend on the eve of the event.

Mohamaddin denied that his ministry had endorsed the awards programme.

“It is an offence to use the ministry’s name for publicity without any confirmation. This can lead to legal action,” he said in a statement after welcoming the Spectrum of the Seas, one of the biggest and most expensive cruise liners of Royal Caribbean International at Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal (SPCT) in Penang yesterday.

Ketapi clarified that neither he nor his officers received any invitation to the event, adding that confirmation to attend would be sent in writing if he was scheduled.

“If I am not able to attend, a ministry official will usually represent me,” he added.