MGTO unveils winners of “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” Awards 2016 in catering and travel agency sectors

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) once again held the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” (QTSAS), targeting the catering sector and travel agencies this year. In parallel with that, the Office hosted a QTSAS Awards Gala Dinner tonight (5 December) to present the “Star Merchant Award” of the year to 42 qualified catering businesses and 28 qualified travel agencies, among which 4 catering businesses and 2 travel agencies were also given the “Service Star Award”. Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ip Peng Kin; MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; President of the Institute for Tourism Studies, Fanny Vong; President of the Executive Committee of the Consumer Council, Wong Hon Neng; Head of Department of Environment, Hygiene and Licensing of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), Fong Vai Seng; MGTO Deputy Directors, Cecilia Tse and Cheng Wai Tong; Chairman of Macau Hotel Association, Samuel Yeung Chun Yip; President of the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macao, Chan Chak Mo; President of the Board of Directors of Association of Macau Small and Medium Enterprise of Catering, Vincent Ieong Weng Seng, President of Macau Travel Agency Association, Alex Lao Nga Wong; President of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, Siu Chi Shing; Secretary-General of the Association of Macau Tourist Agents, Cheung Kin Chung; as well as Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, Michael P. H. Lam were present at the Awards Gala Dinner together with other guests. Giving a speech on behalf of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam during the dinner, Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ip Peng Kin, stated that the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture has always attached great importance to nurturing tourism industry professionals. He hopes that members of the local tourism community can voice their suggestions and make concerted efforts to promote and optimize tourism industry training. He looks forward to seeing members of the industries actively participate in training programs to enhance their accomplishments and professional knowledge in order to maintain a great service attitude and positive mentality while carrying out their responsibilities devotedly. By doing the above, they can together promote quality tourism service and enhance the destination image, joining hands to transform the city into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. On behalf of Secretary Tam, Ip Peng Kin also encouraged members of the local industries to keep upgrading their service with new ideas, and by leveraging innovative media and technology, to provide more fascinating travel experiences for visitors, which will in turn foster smart tourism development in Macao. He added that while MGTO is currently carrying out the preparation work for Macao’s application to become a UNESCO Creative Cities Network member in the field of Gastronomy, local catering businesses can do their best to provide services of high quality and help Macao become a City of Gastronomy. MGTO launched the QTSAS in 2014, with the objectives not only to establish service quality standards for members of the tourism industry but also to support and encourage them to upgrade their service quality. The Scheme also aims to recognize tourism businesses for their outstanding services and excellent service management. QTSAS gives out two accolades namely “Star Merchant Award” and “Service Star Award”. Since the Scheme was rolled out for the catering industry in the first two years with good results achieved, the Office extended the Scheme from the catering industry to include travel agencies as well this year. Based on license categorization, MGTO set up four categories including “Deluxe Restaurant”, “First Class Restaurant”, “Second Class Restaurant” and “Food and Beverage Establishments” in the Scheme. During the process, the participating catering businesses were given two types of assessments, namely “Mystery Shopping Assessment” and “Service Management System Audit” with regard to their frontline service and management level. This year, 42 qualified merchants received the “Star Merchant Award” in recognition of their outstanding tourism services. Four of them were also entitled to the “Service Star Award” because of the highest score they received in their respective category. Including this year’s award winners, around 200 catering merchants have been designated as the “Star Merchant” since the launch of QTSAS. For the field of travel agencies, the participating businesses had to go through three types of assessments including “Mystery Shopping Assessment”, “Service Management System Audit” and “Traveller Satisfaction Survey”. As a result, a total of 28 qualified travel agencies were presented the “Star Merchant Award”. Moreover, to commend travel agencies which provided their patrons with high-quality services in and beyond Macao, the Office conferred the “Service Star Award – Inbound Service” and “Service Star Award – Outbound Service” to the two “Star Merchant” travel agencies which met the prescribed standard and received the highest total score for “Inbound Service” and “Outbound Service” respectively. In line with the Scheme, MGTO held an array of workshops and courses this year for participating merchants of 2016 and the award-winning merchants of 2014 and 2015, supporting them to keep improving their services in terms of quality and efficiency. In addition, MGTO keeps promoting the Scheme via different channels and has produced leaflets listing the award-winning travel agencies as well as the printed “Star Merchant Award” – Restaurants and Eateries Guide of the year for distribution at various Tourist Information counters. The public can also check out the list of award-winning merchants on MGTO’s website: www.macaotourism.gov.mo. MGTO will carry on the Scheme and optimize the current system of assessment and incentive for the catering sector and travel agencies. In addition, the Office will continue to support and assist industry partners to organize training programs, in order to foster quality improvement in services provided by tourism and other related industries and support Macao’s goal to become a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure.