Rabendra Raj Pandey, executive chairman of Everest Express Travels and Tours, has become the second Nepali to be awarded the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) life membership, the travel group's highest individual honour. His dedication and leadership, with 23 years at PATA and in the Nepali tourism industry, has been commended before with the 1999 PATA Award of Merit and the PATA Chairman's Award in 2000 and 2002.