The Hong Kong Tourism Board would like to notify you that amendments on the assessment criteria and frequency of the QTS scheme will take effect from 2 January 2026 (“Effective Date”).

To align with market trends and enhance assessment efficiency, the key changes are as follows:

Assessment Criteria

• Integration of duplicate assessment criteria
• Removal of assessment criteria already evaluated by independent third parties

Assessment Frequency

• Conduct annual site visits (informed and unannounced)
• Discontinue mid-year surveillance visits
• QTS merchant who fulfill the following criteria will be eligible for a waiver of the annual informed site visit (To ensure service quality, informed site visit will resume in alternate years)
• accredited for 10 consecutive years or more; or
• passed the formal assessment in its previous certification year with a score of 800 or greater

Completion Due Date of Corrective Action

• New applicants must complete the corrective action within one month

Please click here to download the latest edition (January 2026 version) of the QTS Scheme Booklet and Assessment Checklists.

Should you have any queries, please contact the QTS Secretariat at 2806 2823.