Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel receives ISO9001-2000 Certification

Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel has received the ISO9001-2000 certification by Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI) in Quality Management Systems in the provision of Hospitality Services recently. BVQI, an international leader in certification, audited the Hotel's management system and verified that the 5-star hotel conformed to the requirements specified in the ISO9001-2000 international standards.

Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel successfully implemented its quality management systems to drive service excellence and demonstrated full compliance in 12 Hotel departments namely, Food & Beverage, Housekeeping, Front Office, Kitchen, Engineering, Executive Office, Sales & Marketing, Marketing-Communications, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Safety & Security.

In the course of the certification process, Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel adopted numerous international and local hotel standards established by related regulatory accreditation bodies. Standards on machinery calibration, occupational safety and health, food handling procedures and hygiene standards were amongst the 3000 standards established and successfully implemented. 

In order to achieve these standards and criteria, the hotel enlisted a team of departmental trainers whose core focus were coaching and training Hotel staff on internal quality service standards, and those in line with ISO9001-2000 standards and requirements. Over 5000 training hours were dedicated to ensure all Hotel staff comprehended the implemented quality management systems and the Hotel's quality objectives towards achieving ISO9001-2000.

Numerous specialized and customized training modules were conducted to ensure full comprehension by all staff to consistently and continuously stay in compliance with the required standards.

Leading the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel through the certification process was the Hotel's Director of Human Resources, Ms. Annie Clyde and a team of seven quality assurance personnel. The Hotel embarked in attaining ISO9001-2000 in Hospitality Services in December 2002. According to Ms. Clyde, "The ISO9001-2000 certification has enhanced staff performance in creating client loyalty, repeat business and consistency in the hotel's service standards which ultimately enable us to deliver service excellence in exceeding customers' expectations."

Hotel Group General Manager, Mr. Jean-Jacques Kiefer, said, "The ISO certification revalidates the Hotel's continual commitment to service excellence and continual improvement while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction, and anticipating customers' expectations. Our success is also dependent on the holistic commitment level by our management and staff to foster this new culture and set forth a benchmark in the hospitality industry in Malaysia. This was a tremendous effort that was accomplished by all the staff in Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel"

The 5-star, 441-room Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel employs 780 staff with an annual staff turnover of 15.7%, relatively low in the hotel industry in Malaysia and lower than the industry average in Asia.

The Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel's expansion programme will add four new brands of accommodation to its portfolio that increases the total available rooms of 441 to a progressive total of 1165 rooms by end 2004. The growth represents a 62 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms, all of which are located within the 800-acre integrated development and managed under the brand umbrella of Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel.

The expansion will position the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel as the single largest hotel development in Kuala Lumpur offering a multitude of accommodation to cater to all types of guests, whether business or leisure.