Recognising excellence in medical travel journalism – Calls for global media entries
KUALA LUMPUR, 8 October 2018 – Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), is calling for participation from both international and local journalists, as well as media agencies for the inaugural Medical Travel Media Awards (MTMA) 2018. The prestigious global medical travel journalism award, supported by Supernewsroom, introduced five categories to honour and recognise media organisations and journalists who have contributed towards building awareness of Malaysia’s medical travel industry.
Chief Executive Officer of MHTC, Sherene Azli said the award is part of the agency’s purview to raise Malaysia’s profile as a leading global destination for healthcare.
MTMA 2018 is part of Malaysia Healthcare’s campaign journey to pave the way towards Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel 2020 (MYHT2020). Malaysia Healthcare aims to position the nation as the Asian hub for fertility and cardiology, as well as the leading global destination for healthcare travel. This is in line with the country’s aim of achieving RM2.8 billion in revenue with an estimated economic impact of RM10 billion towards the total GDP contribution.
Malaysia is already recognised internationally as a preferred medical travel destination due to its easily accessible, and competitively affordable world-class quality healthcare. Malaysia’s cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art facilities in the fields of cardiology and fertility have propelled the country into a hub for both these treatments.
“The media has played a significant role through its reporting on Malaysia’s medical travel industry. MHTC recognises and acknowledges the support given by the media fraternity not only in Malaysia but around the world in our initiative to position Malaysia as a leading global healthcare destination. The awards aim to honour the best in medical travel journalism in categories covering print, television, radio and online,” said Sherene.
A total of five categories will be contested at the Medical Travel Media Awards 2018. The categories are:
- Medical Travel Media Award (Best Print Feature)
- Medical Travel Media Award (Best Broadcast Feature)
- Medical Travel Media Award (Best Online Feature)
- Medical Travel Journalist of the Year
- Medical Travel Editorial Team of the Year
For the first three categories, each winner will receive a cash prize of RM8,000 and a trophy. The award criteria will be based on the reporters’ journalistic flair in providing engaging, thought-provoking feature and insightful reporting. The key element that should be present is the reach or share-ability of the feature on social media platforms.
For the fourth category, ‘Medical Travel Journalist of the Year’, the winner will receive a cash prize of RM8,000 and a trophy. This award will be presented to a journalist who has provided the most timely, accurate and original news reporting on Malaysia’s medical travel industry in any print, broadcast or online media.
Additionally, the winner will also receive a grand prize of a 3-day-2-night ‘Malaysia Healthcare Experience’ whereby the journalist will get a chance to experience first-hand Malaysia Healthcare’s services and hospitality.
The highlight of MTMA is the final category which is the ‘Medical Travel Editorial Team of the Year’ category. The award will be presented to a media outlet that has provided the most insightful analysis of all aspects of Malaysia’s medical travel industry. The winning team will receive a cash prize of RM10,000 and a trophy. This category will also reward an additional media outlet for the ‘Highly Commended Editorial Team of the Year’ award where the winning team will receive RM 5,000 and a trophy.
All entries for MTMA will be judged by a team of professionals from the industry and subject matter experts. The winning criterion would encompass an in-depth outlook on the medical travel industry in Malaysia, if the entry has increased the awareness (based on shares and likes on social media) and provided a greater understanding of the country’s medical travel industry, amongst others.
The secretariat is now accepting entries for any articles or broadcast features that were published or aired between 1 June 2018 to 30 June 2019. The deadline for submission is 30 June 2019 and the results are scheduled to be announced at the award presentation ceremony in Kuala Lumpur in August 2019.
If you are a journalist or media outlet, submit your entries here: www.mylovesyou.com/mtma2018.
