Ooi Chok Yan

Penang-born Chok Yan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Melbourne’s RMIT University. His career began in top multi-national advertising agencies such as BBDO, McCann Erickson, Ogilvy, M&C Saatchi and as Executive Creative Director of Hakuhodo Indonesia, he led the team to become the Agency of The Year and won the Gold Lion award in Cannes which incidentally was the first for Hokuhodo network, outside Japan.  He has also won several advertising awards in the local and international arena.

Currently, as the CEO of Penang Global Tourism (PGT), he is responsible for generating tourism to Penang by working closely with key tourism players. Under Chok Yan’s leadership, PGT has established signature events that draw large numbers of visitors to Penang where two Guinness World Records were accomplished. Penang has also accorded numerous accolades from renowned international media such as CNN, Lonely Planet, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Yahoo Travel and New York Times. Chok Yan’s achievements also include establishing Penang to become No. 1 in Malaysia for Medical Tourism, obtaining the “firsts” – international long-haul direct flight from Doha and being the host for WTM Connect Asia (2016).