Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing MSP, has unveiled a new funding agreement that will allow thousands of small hospitality and tourism businesses across Scotland to access subsidised customer service training over the next two years.
The funding, which is provided by Skills Development Scotland and is worth £180,000 in the next 12 months alone, will be made available through the WorldHost Regional Destination Initiative – a national campaign being spearheaded by skills and workforce development charity People 1st.
Transforming customer standards
The campaign aims to build on the legacy of world-class events like the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, and transform customer service standards across Scotland’s visitor economy using the world-renowned WorldHost customer service training programmes.
Over a two-year project, 5,000 businesses, four cities, over 70 towns and a set of islands across 11 Scottish regions will use the training to achieve WorldHost Recognised Business and Destination status – a must-have badge for excellent customer service.
WorldHost Recognised Business status
WorldHost Recognised Business status is awarded to businesses that have trained at least 50% of their front-line staff using any of the WorldHost programmes, while WorldHost Recognised Destination status is awarded to areas where 25% of businesses have achieved the standard.
As SMEs make up 82% of Scotland’s visitor economy businesses, their contribution will be vital to achieving the campaign’s targets. Through the funding agreement, small businesses that meet the qualification criteria will be able to save £40 per person on the cost of their WorldHost training.
9,000 trained in 2014
In the past year alone, 9,000 people in Scotland have completed WorldHost training, and the funding announcement came at an event held at Achnagairn Castle in Inverness to celebrate the initiative’s success to date.
Speaking at the event, Fergus Ewing commented: “2014 has been a hugely successful year for Scottish tourism, with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Scottish Homecoming all shining the global spotlight on our fantastic country and providing a massive boost to our tourism economy.
“We need to make sure that we fully capitalise on the long term benefits these events will bring, and build a strong, consistent and high quality visitor experience that visitors will remember, and which will keep them returning to Scotland for many years to come.
“The WorldHost Destination Initiative is exactly the kind of project that will help us achieve this ambition, and I am confident that through the work of People 1st, Skills Development Scotland and the regional steering groups set up to support this initiative, we now have in place the game-changer that the tourism industry has been looking for.”
Customer service skills need improving
David Allen, director of Scotland for People 1st, commented: “Customer service is still a major issue for tourism businesses across Scotland. Our research tells us that 65% of hospitality and tourism businesses in Scotland feel that customer service skills need improving in their workforce.
“That’s why we brought the WorldHost programmes to Scotland. Businesses that have already undertaken the training have noticed the difference it makes, from improved sales to increased staff motivation through to positive feedback from customers and higher repeat customer levels.”
Businesses that are interested in becoming WorldHost-trained, taking up the funded training, or learning more about the WorldHost Regional Destination Initiative can find information here
About People 1st
People 1st is the skills and workforce development charity for employers in the hospitality, tourism, leisure, travel, passenger transport and retail industries focusing on transforming skills in the sector through the development of effective recruitment, training and talent management solutions.
For more information about People 1st click here
About WorldHost
WorldHost customer service training has been used to train over 150,000 people in the UK, including tens of thousands of volunteers and staff at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics and 3,000 ScotRail staff as part of their preparations for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The WorldHost programmes cover all the essentials of service – from making a good first impression to empathetic listening, driving sales through service and more.
Originally developed in Canada – widely recognised as the leading global destination for visitor welcome – and adapted for the UK market by skills and workforce development charity People 1st, the WorldHost programmes provide a gold standard in training for any business that relies on day-to-day interaction with customers for success. All WorldHost trainers are quality assured and are regularly tested to ensure they continue to deliver world-class customer service training.
For more information about WorldHost click here
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