According to the Customer Satisfaction Index released by the Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES), restaurants and hotels are keeping customers and tourists more satisfied than at any time in the last six years, despite the manpower crunch. The tourism sector, made up of attractions, hotels and travel services, produced a record score of 74.5 out of 100 – the highest since the index began in 2007 – up from 70 last year. For the food and beverage sector, satisfaction scores also hit a new high of 70.3, against last year's 67.7.