QTSAS Awards Gala Dinner
Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) once again rolled out the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” (QTSAS) targeting the catering sector this year and in parallel with that, hosted a QTSAS Awards Gala Dinner tonight (1 December) to present the “Star Merchant Award” to 84 qualified merchants in 2015 as well as the “Service Star Award” to four of them. 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; MGTO Deputy Directors, Cecilia Tse and Cheng Wai Tong; Department Head of Technical Support of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Salina Wong Pou I; President of the Supervisory Committee of Macau Hotel Association, Noel Wong; 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, Ieong Weng Seng 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. Senna Fernandes encourages local trade to keep going for training Director Senna Fernandes expressed in her speech that in light of the Belt and Road Initiative, Macau is prepared to welcome tourists from a broader diversity of market segments in the future. She encouraged members of local trade to keep upgrading themselves through training and greet visitors with warm hospitality and professional knowledge. She also welcomed local businesses to develop creative ideas and let both residents and visitors enjoy a greater variety of products and highly-rated services. She hopes that local industry partners will continue to join and support the Scheme, together foster quality improvement of local tourism services and build up a positive destination image in line with Macau’s goal to become a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. 84 catering merchants received Star Merchant Award 2015 Launched last year, the QTSAS targets the catering industry once again in 2015. Based on license categorization, MGTO has set up four categories including “Deluxe Restaurant”, “First Class Restaurant”, “Second Class Restaurant” and “Food and Beverage Establishments” in the Scheme. A total of 88 merchants entered into the assessments. During the six-month process, the participating 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, 84 qualified merchants received the “Star Merchant Award” in recognition of their high-quality 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, nearly 170 catering merchants are qualified as “Star Merchant” by far. Each award-winning merchant in the QTSAS is presented an accreditation certificate, shop-window sticker and badge of “Star Merchant Award”, for them to show to customers their ability and commitment to provide high-quality tourism services. Valid for a period of three years, the accreditation helps the merchants to better promote their service as well. QTSAS for both catering businesses and travel agencies in 2016 Dedicated to “enhance tourism service quality as well as strengthen industry training and management” as one of its main goals this year, MGTO organized the QTSAS once again. The objective of the Scheme is not only to establish service quality standards for tourism industry but also to support and encourage them to upgrade their services. The Scheme also aims to recognize tourism businesses for their outstanding services and excellent service management. QTSAS has given out two accolades namely “Star Merchant Award” and “Service Star Award”. With the Scheme targeting the catering industry in both 2014 and 2015, the Office plans to carry out the QTSAS for not only local catering sector but also travel agencies in 2016, while studying the possibilities to extend the Scheme to other tourism-related industries as well. “Star Merchant Award” – Restaurants and Eateries Guide MGTO has held an array of supporting activities for the Scheme this year including an explanation session about the QTSAS assessment criteria and a mid-term session for participating merchants to evaluate and share their progress. The Office has also provided a series of training workshops for frontline staff about attitudes for customer service and skills of handling demanding customers. In addition, MGTO keeps promoting the scheme via its website, monthly publication “What’s On”, promotional video as well as bus advertisements, etc. The Office has also produced the “Star Merchant Award” – Restaurants and Eateries Guide for distribution at various Tourist Information counters. Information about the award-winning merchants is listed in the “Star Merchant Award” – Restaurants and Eateries Guide. Printed copies will be available at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters soon. The list of award-winning merchants is also available to the public on MGTO’s website: www.macautourism.gov.mo. MGTO will carry on the Scheme and organize more training sessions which cater for tourism industry and other related sectors in partnership with local trade and training institutes, to foster quality improvement of tourism services and support Macau’s goal to become a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure.
