Audra Morrice appointed as PATA’s Sustainable, Gastronomic Tourism Ambassador

Monday, July 18, 2022

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Audra Morrice, chef, author and host/judge of MasterChef (Asia and Singapore) as its Ambassador for Sustainable, Gastronomic Tourism.

“Throughout her career, Audra has been an advocate and champion for Asian heritage cooking, and I am delighted that she has agreed to be our Ambassador for Sustainable, Gastronomic Tourism,” said PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera.

“According to our newly released edition of PATA’s Issues & Trends, one of the biggest key drivers of positivity in online social sentiment about Asia Pacific travel is gastronomy. Having Audra as our Ambassador for the Asia-Pacific region provides a leading voice in promoting the authenticity and diversity of cuisines across the region, the celebration of locally sourced ingredients and the appeal of Asian gastronomy experiences for travellers. I look forward to working with her towards this goal.”

Commenting on the appointment, Ms. Morrice said, “I am absolutely delighted to be PATA’s  Ambassador for Sustainable, Gastronomic Tourism. Food has always been a big part of my upbringing and today, I have the joy of sharing food of my culture and travels with people. I look forward to sharing my insights and experiences with everyone on why food is a way of truly getting to know a country, its people and culture. 

Audra Morrice is a chef, an author and a television presenter.  Born and raised in Singapore, Audra’s father is of South Indian descent. Her paternal grandmother was from Chennai and grandfather from Puducherry, both migrated from India to Singapore and Butterworth in Malaysia in the early 1900s. Her mother, of Hock Chiu descent was born in Sibu, Sarawak and grew up in Kuching. They were descendants from the Fujian region in China. With such a vibrant cultural mix, there was no doubt that food was going to play a large part of Audra’s life.

A graduate in Economics and Japanese, Audra left her very successful career in telecommunications to follow her passion in food. Her career in the culinary world began after her stint as a finalist in MasterChef Australia 2012. In 2015 she was one of the three judges on MasterChef Asia together with three-Michelin-starred chef Bruno Ménard and stellar restaurateur Susur Lee. Her authentic and approachable nature once again sees her as the current host and judge of MasterChef Singapore which just aired its 3rd season.

Audra also has her own cooking series, Tasty Conversations, broadcasted on SBS Food Network in Australia, and broadcasting across Asia and audramorrice.com.au.

She runs a thriving catering business in Sydney for both private and corporate events and also hands-on cooking classes and corporate programs in Sydney and Singapore. Her cooking style is eclectically Asian, drawing influence from her Singaporean Chinese-Indian heritage. Audra is an author of two cookbooks, “My Kitchen, Your Table” and “Cook and Feast”, both available at all leading bookstores and online on Amazon and The Book Depository. She also creates bespoke food products for her clients.

She has also collaborated with Accor Plus offering members a personally guided food and cultural tour of Singapore getting right off the beaten track and visiting her favourite food haunts.

In March 2017, Audra consulted for Laguna Phuket to launch the very first Laguna Phuket Food and Music Festival. The success of the event attracted huge accolades from the governor of Phuket as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

She will be speaking at the upcoming PATA Destination Marketing Forum 2022 in Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand from August 2-4.

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• PATA appoints Audra Morrice, Chef and Judge of MasterChef