Mr Teo Ser Luck at the Excellent Service Award (EXSA) 2013 – STAR Presentation Ceremony (Hospitality Sector)

Guest-of-Honour Speech by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, at the Excellent Service Award (EXSA) 2013 – STAR Presentation Ceremony (Hospitality Sector), University Cultural Centre Hall, 18 November 2013, 2.30pm to 4.00pm

Mr Albert Teo

Vice-President of the Singapore Hotel Association

SHA and SHATEC Board Members

Distinguished Guests                                                        

Award Winners

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon.

It gives me great pleasure to join all of you at this year’s Excellent Service Award (EXSA) Ceremony for the hospitality sector. I understand that there are 590 EXSA STAR winners who will be recognised at today’s ceremony.

Service is an integral part of Singapore’s attractiveness as a vibrant, premier tourist destination.  I am therefore heartened by your passion for and commitment to excellent service.  Congratulations to all of you for a job well done!

Tourism Outlook

2012 was a good year for tourism in Singapore.  Despite global uncertainties, we welcomed a record 14.4 million visitors and registered a new high of S$23 billion in tourism receipts.

Our tourism industry continues to be buoyant in 2013 with visitor arrivals and tourism receipts continuing to trend upwards. This is in line with the growth of tourism in Asia, driven by the rising Asian middle class. We, in Singapore therefore are presented with an opportunity to attract discerning travellers who seek out innovative experiences, and who appreciate the value of good service.

Despite the opportunity, we are faced with keen regional competition and internal resource constraints. Hence we need to focus on sustainable, quality, yield-driven tourism growth. 

Changing Tourism Landscape

Today, Singapore’s tourism landscape is more vibrant than ever before. We can already observe this in our hotel offerings. In recent years, we have seen a variety of new concepts, from boutique, to green-innovative, to hi-tech and trendy. Each has its own unique proposition, catering to the diverse tastes of the modern day traveller.

Many new attractions have also opened in recent years. These include Gardens by the Bay, Marine Life Park and River Safari. We have also unveiled new tourist infrastructure such as the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, and improved existing facilities such the conventions and exhibitions space at Suntec Singapore.

However, hardware is but one side of the equation. Excellent service is the other. With both, Singapore will be more attractive to visitors who come for work and play. Your contributions as service champions are therefore critical to keep Singapore at the top of the game.

STAR Nominees

I understand that there are a total of 44 Outstanding STAR nominees from both the hotel and non-hotel sector. While I will only highlight the exemplary work of a few nominees, I am sure the rest of you also have similar heart-warming stories to share:

• Alice Lau Yin Fun, Guest Relations Officer, Hotel Royal Newton

A renowned performance group with more than 40 cast members stayed at the hotel for about two and a half months.  Alice not only personally welcomed them but also took the effort to note the individual preferences of her guests.  When she observed that the cast members preferred grapes and strawberries for breakfast, she requested for their weekly fruit baskets to include grapes and strawberries while removing the dragon fruits which, she noticed, were untouched.  She also personally took care of them when some of them fell ill due to the warm weather and their hectic schedules.  When it was time for the group to leave, the cast members expressed their appreciation to Alice for her keen eye for details, kindness and great service.  They also shared that they would return to Singapore and stay with the hotel again.

• S B Senthil Kumaran, Service Leader – Concierge, Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa, Singapore

Kumar was informed by his colleague that a guest had left her camera in the taxi she took to the Resort three days ago.  The guest was very upset as the camera contained many precious family photos.  Kumar took the time to speak with the guest so as to trace back where she went on the day that she lost her camera.  He then proceeded to make calls to those places where the guest could have left her camera.  Finally after half an hour, Kumar found out that the guest’s camera was left at another hotel.  As no one was available to help to collect the camera, Kumar took it upon himself to drive his own vehicle in the heavy rain to pick it up.  Needless to say, the guest was elated when Kumar handed the camera to her.

• Ms Siti Hawa Binte Hussein, Administrative Assistant, Front Office, Costa Sands Resort (Sentosa)

A guest had indicated that it was his first wedding anniversary and he wanted to give his wife a surprise by having a room specially decorated for the occasion.  Due to limited resources, Costa Sands Resort Sentosa was initially unable to accommodate the guest’s request.  However, Siti came forward to volunteer to decorate the room.  After work, Siti went searching for decorations at Vivocity, Geylang Serai and Little India so as to dress up the room. She also went on Youtube to get new ideas. Her efforts paid off and the guest was extremely touched by what she did.

These three individuals, whom I have cited, have gone beyond the call of duty. They served with passion. This is really what great service is about.

Service Innovation and Productivity

We are in the midst of restructuring our economy. While manpower is tight, it does not mean that we will be less competitive nor should our service levels decline. We can still provide high quality service to our customer and visitors in new, innovative ways. This requires us to change our mindset, adopt new business models, and leverage on technology.

I am happy to learn that hotels are actively reviewing their operational processes, and some have embarked on the Job Flexibility Scheme to re-design jobs and multi-skill their employees for more efficient deployment.  Hotels are also exploring ways in which to harness technology more creatively to serve visitors.  For example, hotels and relevant solutions vendors leveraged on IDA’s recent Sectoral Productivity Call-for-Collaboration partnership with STB to submit proposals for self-service check-in solutions. The provision of self-service options will shorten waiting times at the Front Office and free up service staff to have more personalised face time with guests.

I would like to encourage you to tap on existing government assistance to bring your organisation to the next frontier of service and productivity. STB has grants such as the Business Improvement Fund, which co-funds the cost of business process and business model enhancements, and the Tourism Technology Fund, which supports technology innovation and adoption for long-term manpower and productivity benefits. SPRING Singapore also champions the Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI), with support from the various Go-the-Extra-Mile for Service (GEMS) Up agencies¹. You can also take advantage of the Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) by e2i to drive service innovation and productivity within your organisations.

Next year, STB will be conducting a consumer study on critical hotel service touch-points. I encourage you to participate proactively in the study as it will help you to get a better understanding of visitors’ expectations of hotel services in Singapore.

Conclusion

I would like to end by taking this opportunity to thank all employees in the hospitality industry for your dedication to delivering excellent service.  Without doubt, the industry needs service ambassadors like you as role models.  Do continue to inspire your team members and together raise the bar for service in Singapore. Once again, congratulations to all for your excellent service!

¹ GEMS Up is represented by agencies such as SPRING Singapore, National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES).