Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) organized the Seminar on International Protocol Skills today (26 May) for members of the hotel and tourism-related sectors to learn more about application of protocol skills in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and international community. The seminar supported hotel and tourism-related personnel to attain professional enhancement and upgrade of service quality, as they tend to visitors from more diverse market segments. It also represents an endeavor in parallel with the progress of the “Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” and in preparation for the return of the international tourism market in the post-pandemic future.
Tailored for employees in the hotel and tourism-related sectors, the seminar was delivered by former Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Fung Sio Weng. The guest speaker elaborated on the differences between Chinese and Western diplomatic etiquette and the formula of diplomatic protocol. The seminar also covered the difference between the concepts of protocol and public relations, China’s administrative division of municipalities in the Greater Bay Area, standards of guest reception and so forth. Around 140 participants joined the seminar.
The guest speaker Fung Sio Weng is the former Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office. With years of supervisory experience in protocol service at the Macao SAR Government, Fung had been in charge of coordinating and organizing different major governmental events such as anniversary celebrations, conferment ceremonies of medals and reception for government and country leaders from near and afar.
The seminar was attended by MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, MGTO Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong, Head of Training and Quality Management Department of MGTO, Doris Leong, as well as representatives of the supporting entities for the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” as follows: member of the Administration Committee on Municipal Affairs of Municipal Affairs Bureau, Lam Sio Un; Vice-President of the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Diamantina Rosário Coimbra; Full-time Member of the Executive Committee of Consumer Council, Leong Pek San; President of Macau Travel Agency Association, Alex Lao; Chairman of Travel Industry Council of Macau, Andy Wu; Chairman of the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macao, Kenneth Lei; President of the Board of Directors of Association of Macau Small and Medium Enterprise of Catering, Vincent Ieong; Secretary-General of Macau Hotel Association, Didi Leong, and Secretary General of the Association of Macao Tourist Agents, Bill Pun.
Getting equipped to welcome opportunities for a brighter future
In her remarks, Senna Fernandes stated that MGTO will keep pushing forward different tasks to widen the range of visitors and join hands with industry partners in branding Macao as a safe and quality destination, strengthening the city’s long-term tourism cooperation with Hengqin and the Greater Bay Area. The seminar aimed to deepen industry participants’ application of the Greater-Bay-Area and international protocol skills, support their professional enhancement and upgrade of service quality, jointly tapping into the opportunities for cultural tourism development in the Greater Bay Area and in preparation for post-pandemic resumption of the international tourism market in the future.
The seminar was conducted in rigorous compliance with the pandemic prevention guidelines issued by Health Bureau. Visitors were required to wear masks at all times, undergo temperature checks, present their valid Macao Health Code in green color and scan the venue code.
MGTO keeps providing training opportunities tailor-made for professional enhancement of members of the travel trade and related sectors, to enhance service quality and work efficiency overall in the tourism industry, in line with Macao’s transformation into a world centre of tourism and leisure.
