Hong Kong Tourism Board

Starring famous Hong Kong actor/singer/producer Andy Lau, the 2003 commercial was inspired by Lau's 2002 blockbuster movie Infernal Affairs – a movie about an undercover cop and a bad cop working for the triads. The core message of the commercial is shops selling genuine goods and providing high standard service should set themselves apart from dishonest merchants by getting the QTS accreditation. The commercial is currently still aired from time to time.[6][7]

The QTS commercial is often confused with another public service announcement (PSA) promoting quality services which was also fronted by Andy Lau. The PSA was filmed in 2002 by the Information Services Department.[8][9] There were 5 different versions all featuring rude vs. courteous shop assistants and drivers. Titled "Success Starts with Quality Service" (優質服務 致勝之道), the PSA was a huge success as one of Lau's lines, "Service like this just isn't good enough in today's standard" (今時今日咁嘅服務態度未夠架) has become a popular Hong Kong slang term used to describe poor service or a bad tempered person.

Simply by presenting his/her travel document and a copy of QTS promotional leaflet at a participating QTS merchant, visitor can enjoy special privileges ranging from exclusive discount to small gift (e.g. a free silk tee for purchasing a suit at a custom tailor). In addition to displaying the QTS gold and black sign, participating QTS merchants would also display the red VIP Offers sign as recognition. The VIP Offers programme was discontinued on 31 December 2008.

Investigations were launched against one of the 3D-GOLD outlets after 40 customers complained they had been harassed by staff and prevented from leaving the shop. The entire 3D-GOLD chain store was stripped of its QTS status with effect from 1 December 2004.[10] This was the first termination in the scheme's history.

The original 3D-GOLD Jewellery Holdings got into more controversies with the sudden death of its chairman, delisting from the stock exchange and it was on the verge of liquidation by the end of 2008. In July 2009, the jeweller was officially taken over by Hong Kong Resources Holdings (SEHK: 2882).

The QTS status of the new 3D-GOLD chain was later reinstated after it had passed the assessment.

The Audit Commission carried out a comprehensive audit on the HKTB in 2006 – 07. In the report released in October 2007, an entire section was devoted to the QTS scheme. The commission made 3 recommendations suggesting HKTB should take action to improve the scheme and reduce the number of complaints, explore ways to achieve self-financing and encourage more operators to apply for the QTS Visitor Accommodation Scheme.[11] In response, HKTB committed to create more places in the quality training workshops for merchants and co-operate with the Home Affairs Department to proactively promote QTS Visitor Accommodation Scheme.[12]

The QTS status of 3 merchants specialised in bird's nest – a Chinese delicacy – were terminated on 27 July 2007. The 3 merchants had publicly admitted infringement of another merchant's trademark.[13]

In a bid to save HK$2 million annually (US$256,000) in operating costs, HKTB announced on 5 November 2010 that the assessment work of QTS merchants has been outsourced to the Productivity Council, while the work to engage merchants to offer discounts for visitors has been outsourced to AQ Communications. The saving will fund extra marketing work for the QTS scheme. As a result, the jobs of 17 permanent and contract staff of the Partnership & Quality Tourism Services Department had been made redundant with immediate effect. Only 5 staff would be retained to monitor the outsourced work.[14]

Local media reported that the staff affected were first notified at 3pm on the same day of the announcement and were asked to leave by day's end. They were given compensation in accordance with the local labour laws but were denied internal transfer to other vacant positions within the organisation.[15] A staff had expressed anger at being kept in the dark about the tendering of the outsourced work in a newspaper interview.[16]

HKTB Deputy Executive Director Daisy Lam later reiterated to the media at an event launch function that the outsourcing was a result of an organizational review conducted a year ago in 2009.[17]

In an interview to local newspapers, Legislator Lee Cheuk-yan questioned about the quality of work after the outsourcing.[14] Lee also concerned that the affected staff will be unable to secure another job as the end of the year nears. Another lawmaker Wong Kwok-hing critisied HKTB for setting a bad example and he feared the private sector may follow suit.[16]

Daisy Lam responded to critics that in addition to compensation, those affected may consider a transfer to the two outsourced bodies. Lam was not worried others would follow HKTB's move as other companies should make their own judgment call.[17]