The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced in a statement on Friday that with Law No. 8/2021 on the Operation of Hotel Establishments coming into effect, adjustments were made to the “rules of enforcement and award mechanism” of the Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme (QTSAS) for the catering sector.
Under the adjusted rules, the statement noted that the scheme now places catering businesses into four subcategories: Restaurant (hotel), Restaurant (non-hotel), Food and Beverage Establishment, and Simple Dining Establishment.
The statement added that a new “Special Theme Award” award mechanism is available, while some existing accolades are renamed.
MGTO also suspended the scheme’s application programme for the catering sector this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, with the new award’s assessment and conferment commencing only after the scheme resumes full operation, according to the statement. QTAS’s latest application manual and assessment criteria, the statement said, can be found at https://industry.macaotourism.gov.mo/en/page/content.php?page_id=237.
The statement pointed out that the contingency arrangements for QTSAS that MGTO will implement are that new applications from the catering sector will not be processed by QTSAS this year, but supervision and appraisal will be conducted on accredited catering businesses in line with this year’s adjusted assessment criteria.
The scheme also stopped application submissions and travel agency assessments this year, “but pertinent accreditations remain valid for awarded merchants”, the statement underlined. MGTO will also continue to cooperate with the Consumer Council (CC) for the retail sector, “which brings together QTSAS and the Certified Shop Scheme”, the statement underlined.
The statement noted that MGTO will continue the scheme to “support the trade’s advancement of tourism service quality overall”, while also encouraging tourism and related industry members to work together in providing “excellent trip experiences”.
This poster provided by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) on Friday promotes the Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme (QTSAS).
