Quality assurance programmes are not uncommon in the tourism and entertainment industries and although the modus operandi may be different, the aim is usually the same: to gauge the level of service, the quality of the product and to identify weaknesses.
Over the past few years, a number of countries have introduced the “mystery guest” or “mystery shopper” concept whereby a private or government watchdog sends its people – or members of the public – to sample a service or product in the country or else abroad.
Some of these “mystery guest” programmes have focused on the tourism industry and many a hotel (and country) has found itself named and shamed in the foreign media after the mystery tourist gave his or her assessment of their holiday in a particular country.
While the exercise may help to name and shame rogue hotels or companies, there is little to be gained except to put the whole tourism industry in that county in a bad light. Instead of highlighting the problem, these programmes actually created even more.
Yet, a properly managed “mystery guest” programme can be an excellent tool for quality audit departments to collect information from tourists in a structured manner.
The Malta Tourism Authority has embarked on such a programme – following a public tender – that will see 20 foreigners coming to Malta for a minimum of two nights and they will be given questionnaires to fill in. These mystery guests are told to hire a taxi, go on a bus, visit one of the MTA’s information offices and use the facilities in their hotel or in one of the island’s many restaurants. They are even asked to visit a police station! The mystery guests are also asked to give their own views about their stay in Malta – what they did not like and what worked well for them.
With so much being said about branding and the need to get our own house in order, this exercise should help the MTA to get a clear picture of what the tourists really want and what they see when the come here.
It often seems the case that the authorities pay little attention to what the tourist has to say, what the travel agents who bring people to Malta have to say, about the product the Maltese offer. Yet, thanks to this “mystery guest” initiative, we will finally get to hear the other side of the story.
The Maltese are sometimes overly critical of their homeland. It is true that the roads are not up to scratch, the level of public cleanliness leaves much to be desired and some of our service providers are downright rude to tourists, but it is also true that many tourists just adore our buses and find driving to be a unique experience.
Therefore, the data collected in this exercise will help the authority to really pinpoint those areas where weaknesses are evident and, hopefully, take action. This exercise is not a “name and shame” exercise, as the authority told The Malta Business Weekly yesterday.
It is an extension of the Brand Malta campaign – one that has a lot of potential benefits for the authority’s quality assurance department. The mystery guest programme ends next month but it should not be the last. The MTA should be allocated more funds to carry out at least another two mystery guest exercises before the start of next summer. Thus the authority will have gathered information from tourists visiting in summer, during the shoulder months, in winter and over the Easter period.
That way, the MTA will have a much more detailed picture of what tourists find when they come to Malta, the problems that exists and how these can be addressed.
Similar initiatives should be regular activities and not one-offs. Money spent on “mystery guest” initiatives is money well spent.