The Malayan tiger
In collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, MATTA is working with British Artist Rachel Gray, a recognised British artist of wildlife portraiture to launch the ‘Sustainable Malaysia Initiative’ at the Tourism Malaysia Pavilion at the World Travel Market 2023.
Rachel Gray will produce one large format of the Malaysian tiger, a recognised endangered species. This portrait, through the use of technology, will be converted to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT’s), which have an intrinsic value and they will be auctioned for sale at a date to be finalized later in the year.
The proceeds from the auction and sale of the Non-Fungible Tokens will go towards supporting sustainable tourism at the Royal Belum State Park in Perak as well as towards sustaining the indigenous communities that live within.
With the eyes of the world upon Malaysia for the few days between Nov 6 – 8, 2023 at the WTM 2023, it is believed that this event provides unique opportunities for branding and merchandising and will help Malaysia get the word out about eco-tourism and the sustainable activities that go with it.
Rachel Gray
“Known and loved for our rich biodiversity, especially from the European market, this initiative is hoped to bring further awareness of Malaysia’s ecotourism products and sustainable tourism, apart from supporting the local communities and their conservation efforts. This is also in line with our focus to promote Malaysia as the Top-of-the-Mind Ecotourism Destination of the World,” said YBhg. Dato’ Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman, Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
The president of MATTA, Nigel Wong also took the opportunity to thank Malaysia Aviation Group for their support in providing a return ticket to London for Rachel Gray for this important campaign at the WTM London.
“The collaboration with Rachel Gray is particularly important as we feel that Rachel’s work tells the perfect story of the beauty of Malaysia’s rich wildlife heritage that we are trying to save and sustain for the benefit of the generations to come but also for us all here and now.” said Wong.
“This is also the first collaboration between MATTA and the British artist and we are proud of our close ties and the journey we are taking together towards a more sustainable future.” he added.