Tourism | MGTO registers over 2,300 participants in workshops

Members of the local tourism industry attend a seminar on Islamic culture

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a total of 75 workshops, courses and seminars this year as part of its training opportunities program, entitled “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” (QTSAS), which targeted professionals in the travel trade and the catering industry.
The workshops are held to help service providers cater to visitors from a growing range of market segments, to foster quality tourism, and to build a positive destination image.
According to a press release issued by the MGTO, the training courses were attended by over 2,300 participants, including tour guides, personnel of travel agencies, and employees in the hospitality, retail and catering industries.
Among the workshops held was the “International Introductory Award in Hospitality Customer Service,” which was made available to award-winning merchants of 2014. Meanwhile, the workshops titled “Service Mentality of Frontline Staff” and “Managing Difficult Customers” were conducted to help frontline employees embrace a more positive attitude at work and to improve their service skills.
MGTO says that they will continue to target the catering industry next year, but will add a special focus on travel agencies.
The office also says that internships were offered to tourism office personnel from Portuguese-speaking countries as part of the QTSAS program. MGTO has this year joined the Supporting Office to the Secretariat of China and the Portuguese-Speaking Countries Economic Cooperation Forum (Macao) to coordinate these internships, and to build a foundation of cooperation for future years.
According to MGTO, there were tourism office personnel from Lusophone territories such as Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and East Timor attending the workshops between March and May 2015.