Tunku Dato' Seri (Dr.) Iskandar bin Tunku Abdullah

Past President, PATA

Day 1 : 23rd November 2021, 11.50am

Topic : “Travel and Tourism Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

The Biography:

Tunku Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Iskandar bin Tunku Abdullah is the Group Executive Chairman of The Melewar Group. He is concurrently the Group President of the tourism-related companies of the group, which includes Mitra Malaysia Sdn Bhd; Mitra Kembara Sdn Bhd; Pacific World Travel Sdn Bhd; World Express (M) Sdn Bhd and APG Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

Internationally, he is currently appointed to the Boards of Directors of The Travel Partnership Corporation Inc. (USA) and APG Network (France).

Over the past 40 years, he had led a number of national and international travel and tourism associations in various capacities including:

  • Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) – President (past);
  • United Federation of Travel Agents’ Associations (UFTAA) – Deputy Director (past);
  • ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) – President (past);
  • Federation of ASEAN Travel Association (FATA) – President (past);
  • National Tourism Council of Malaysia (NTCM) – Founder Chairman (past);
  • Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) – Chairman (past) & Board Member (current);
  • Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation (IOTO) – Chairman (past);
  • APG Network – Board Member (current) & Regional Vice President (current).

He has been a member of the Boards of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board and the Tourist Development Corporation and also the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Tourism Centre,

Tunku Iskandar has been honoured with Life Memberships by both PATA and ASEANTA for his contributions to both the associations and to the tourism industry. In 2005, he received the Malaysia Tourism Gold Award in recognition for his contribution to tourism in Malaysia and in 2019, he was recognised with the MATTA Tourism Icon award.

He holds a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in International Marketing of the University of Strathclyde, UK, and had been elected Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and the Institute of Administrative Management (UK). In 1984, he received the “Triple-A” Alumni Achievement Award from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines.

In 2018, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Business degree by Taylor’s University, Malaysia in recognition of his contributions over the past 45 years to the travel and tourism industry and to business generally.

Tunku Iskandar was born in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia in January 1947. He was conferred the Darjah Setia Negeri Sembilan (DNS) in 1987, and the Darjah Seri Paduka Tuanku Ja’afar Yang Amat Terpuji (SPTJ) in 1989. In 2008 he was appointed as “Tunku Alang” of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia and in 2012 he was conferred the Darjah Seri Setia Tuanku Muhriz Yang Amat Terbilang (SSTM).