12 June 2024 – Following the successful “Curating Luxury Experience in Hospitality” seminar held in April, SJM Resorts, S.A. (“SJM”) has once again partnered with the internationally renowned Forbes Travel Guide to host a four-day “Luxury Service Experience Bootcamp” for local tertiary students. The bootcamp comprised of three components, including workshops on luxury service standards, evaluations and hands-on experiences, and a team presentation, enabling students to learn about the service industry benchmark based on Forbes Travel Guide’s rating system and to gain in-depth understanding of professional and high-end customer service through practical application.

The participating institutions included the University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao University of Tourism, Macao Polytechnic University, City University of Macau, and University of Saint Joseph. The luxury service standards workshop was led by Ms. Summer Xiang, Learning & Development Manager of Asia Pacific, Forbes Travel Guide, and supported by SJM Learning and Development team, guiding students to understand the Forbes Travel Guide’s service standards across various hotel categories, mastering the basics of service review and assessment processes.

In the second part of the Bootcamp, the SJM Learning and Development team led the students on visits to four hotel towers: Grand Lisboa Macau, Grand Lisboa Palace Macau, THE KARL LAGERFELD MACAU, and Palazzo Versace Macau. Students gained first-hand experience at the front desk, learnt about operations in guest rooms, in-room dining, restaurants, and the checkout processes. They also practiced applying the Forbes Travel Guide’s service standards while conducting service reviews and assessments in hotel lobbies, front desks, concierge services, restaurants, and hotel rooms.

On the final day, students were divided into six teams based on their institutions and presented their findings and conclusions to Ms. Jessie Law, Vice President of Partner Services of Asia Pacific, Forbes Travel Guide, and representatives from SJM. Ultimately, students from University of Macau, Macao University of Tourism, and City University of Macau won first, second, and third places, respectively. The team from Macao University of Tourism also received the Most Creative Recommendation Award. All winning teams were awarded luxury accommodation and dining vouchers from SJM as rewards.

SJM hopes that through this “Luxury Service Experience Bootcamp,” students will deepen their understanding of benchmarks applied in the luxury hospitality industry and enhance their analytical skills by engaging in on-site visits and firsthand experiences during the review process. SJM remains committed to nurturing future talents for Macau’s hotel and tourism leisure industry, thereby supporting the government’s “Building Macau through Talents” policy.