Mr S Iswaran at the Les Clefs d’Or Singapore 20th Anniversary Celebrations

Speech by Mr S Iswaran, Minister of State for trade and industry at Les Clefs d’Or Singapore 20th Anniversary Celebrations on 7 July 2006, 1830hrs at the Legends, Fort Canning park

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

I am delighted to join you this evening to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Les Clefs d’Or. I applaud the Society for its dedication in raising the service standards of our concierge staff as well as its contributions to the hospitality industry over the years.

As you are all keenly aware, our tourism landscape is changing rapidly. We need to continually renew and reinvent ourselves to enhance Singapore’s tourism appeal. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about two increasingly important visitor segments for Singapore – the business travelers and premium leisure visitors. These well-traveled visitors expect to be wowed by world-class infrastructure, excellent service and memorable experiences.

Offering a Memorable Experience

The development of exciting product offerings such as the two integrated resorts at Marina Bay and Sentosa, as well as upcoming luxury hotel developments like the St Regis Hotel and Residences, will strengthen Singapore’s brand name among premium business and leisure visitors who are highly discerning in their tastes and preferences.

Singapore is also establishing itself as an Exchange Capital, facilitating extensive business networking as well as attracting high profile international events to be staged here. Some examples include the 117th International Olympic Council Session that took place in July last year, and the World Bank and IMF meeting that will be held this September.

To offer our visitors a truly memorable experience, we need to complement appealing tourism products with an excellent service culture. Providing unsurpassed service quality is critical in boosting Singapore’s attractiveness as the choice destination amongst business travellers and premium visitors. To meet their high expectations and keep pace with the evolving tourism landscape, it is vital that our service staff continually strive to deliver quality service and delight customers. Let me touch on concierges in particular.

Concierges Play an Important Role

Concierges are among the first points of contact for visitors to Singapore. They play an important role in giving our visitors a memorable experience. Visitors rely on the concierge’s extensive experience and knowledge for personalized information on where to go and what to do while in Singapore. Indeed, concierges are our tourism ambassadors.

As the cream of the concierge fraternity, members of Les Clefs d’Or are known to provide impeccable service and achieve high levels of guest satisfaction. The golden keys they wear with pride on their uniform lapel are a trust mark of quality service. I am confident that Les Clefs d’Or will continue to inspire others in the industry towards delivering world-class service to all our visitors.

At the national level, we have the Go the Extra Mile for Service or GEMS movement to spur everyone, from service workers to customers, to play their part in raising service levels. Together with role models like Les Clefs d’Or, I believe that Singapore is well on its way to building a strong reputation for service excellence.

Conclusion

On this note, I would like to wish Les Clefs d’Or Singapore and all its members many successful years ahead. Thank you.