The Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme (QTSAS) is being rolled out in Macao for the third year, with Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) now opening up the Scheme to travel agencies as well, for the first time, in support of the Office's mission to encourage sustained improvements in service quality in the travel trade and related sectors. MGTO has received positive feedback, with 30 applications from travel agencies to join the Scheme.

Participating travel agencies are required to undergo three types of assessment; namely, the 'Mystery Shopper Assessment', 'Service Management System Audit' and 'Traveller Satisfaction Survey'. Agents whose overall assessment results meet the prescribed standard will be granted a 'Star Merchant Award' accreditation certificate valid for 2017 and 2018 for display on their premises.

In addition, to commend travel agencies providing high-quality service in Macao and beyond for their patrons, MGTO will confer the 'Service Star Award - Inbound Service' and 'Service Star Award - Outbound Service' to 'Star Merchant Award' accredited participants meeting the prescribed standard with the highest total score for 'Inbound Service' and 'Outbound Service,' respectively. By signing up to QTSAS, travel agencies can take the opportunity to self-evaluate their service based upon the assessment criteria and apply the given guidelines to their business operation for the steady improvement of their service.

In the future, MGTO will study the feasibility of widening the scope of QTSAS in the hope of progressively extending accreditation to other tourism-related sectors in line with the Macao SAR Government's goal of transforming the city into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure.