Tourists not satisfied with taxi service quality

A study conducted by a researcher at a Macau university has found that a large proportion of tourists were not satisfied with their taxi rides in the MSAR, with many of them being refused or overcharged.

The study, “The influence of taxi services’ quality on visitor attitude and satisfaction in Macau,” was conducted by a student researcher at the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) with the aim of discovering tourists’ perceptions towards local taxi services.

It also assessed the correlation and influence of local taxi service quality on visitor attitudes and satisfaction, gathering some 118 respondents.

The respondents were mostly from mainland China (67.8%), Taiwan (12.7%) and the Philippines (9.3%), while the rest were from different regions.

The study – presented yesterday at the IFT’s Tourism Education Student Summit by Sammie Lam – showed that 44.1% of the respondents were refused a ride, while 37.3% experienced overcharging by taxi drivers.

In Macau last year, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) issued 6,126 fines to taxi drivers, with 3,846 cases of overcharging.

Since taxi services in Macau are considered to be poor, Lam wondered if tourists were experiencing the same.

“Macau is a city positioned as a World Centre for Travel and Leisure, however the Macau taxi service has problems such as refusing passengers and overcharging,” she said.

According to the study, 30.5% of the respondents waited between five and 10 minutes for a ride, while 28.8% waited longer.

The study also found that 54.2% of the tourists paid fares between MOP51 to MOP100, 18.6% paid between MOP101 to MOP150, and 6.8% were charged between MOP151 to MOP250.

Two of the tourists were said to have paid more than MOP300.

The student researcher also found that majority of respondents described driver’s skills, availability and service quality as poor when asked to compare their taxi experiences to other regions.

Last year, Macau Government Tourism Office director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes admitted that her office had received a large number of complaints about the city’s taxis from residents and tourists alike over the past two years.

The tourism chief believes that there are rogue taxi drivers who overcharge or refuse to pick up passengers and jeopardize the regions’ tourism image.

The Transport Bureau also admitted last year that penalties for taxi infractions in the SAR are relatively light.

However, with a new law set to be in place from June 3, fines of up to MOP9,000 may be charged for different infractions, and sound recording devices will be installed in taxis. LV