A total of 25 local hotels have received the Macao Smart Hotel Award in a ceremony held yesterday at the Macau Tower.
Organized by the Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT) in collaboration with the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center, the contest aims to award hotels that have enhanced their business efficiency and optimized customer experiences through comprehensive communication networks and advanced electronic professional solutions.
This year marks the first time the award is being held. In her speech, CTT director Lau Wai Meng said that smart hotels are the next important trend in the hotel industry, as technology not only transforms traditional hotel management models, but also increases operational efficiency, contributes to meeting the demands of the growing number of tourists, and improves customer experiences.
The Elite Smart Hotel Award was given to those hotels that support the use of innovative technology in the business, with significant benefits for internal and external organizations. The Smart Hotel Award was given to the hotels which have comprehensive communication networks and make use of different information technologies to provide guests with personal and agreeable experiences. These hotels have comprehensive communication networks to support the use of information technology and let guests stay in close contact anytime, anywhere.
Having attended the award ceremony, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes believes that smart hotel development will help Macau to attract more overnight visitors.
The tourism authority hopes to work with local hotels and the tourism industry to continue to improve the effectiveness of smart hotels and smart tourism, as well as use smart tourism projects to reduce the negative impact that the large numbers of tourists pose to local residents and to tourist attractions.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, the CTT director reported on the progress of the city’s 5G development.
According to Lau, the local government is cooperating with telecommunications operators to determine appropriate sites to set up 5G stations.
In order to build 5G stations, the service provider will use 4G stations or seek new locations, for instance at government facilities or on public streets.
The local government wants to take full advantage of the current stations before building additional stations on new sites.
5G will be rolled out in stages at first. Lau stated that the government is currently unaware of the exact locations of the initial roll-out.
Lau explained that building 5G stations is not difficult, but that gaining approval from the property owners takes more time.
Previously, the government had announced that it expects to complete building a 5G network in 2020. According to Lau, the timetable remains the same.
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