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NEW QUALIFICATION IS A WELCOME ADDITION

The Regional Tourism Organisations have joined forces with national awarding body, NCFE, to develop a brand new qualification for the service sector, which will roll out across colleges and centres nationwide in September.

The Certificate in Customer Service for Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism is aimed at raising service standards within the sector, improving job satisfaction and encouraging new recruits into the industry.

The qualification will cover a number of key areas including the importance of providing excellent customer service, developing communication skills and dealing with difficult situations effectively. Students will also be taught basic foreign language skills and an appreciation of different cultural needs to help build confidence levels when dealing with international visitors.

Paul Shipley, Head of Qualifications at NCFE, commenting on the qualification said; “This qualification has been developed from the existing Welcome to Excellence courses currently run by the Regional Tourism Organisations, but will have a more structured approach and students will qualify with a Level 2 Certificate in Customer Service.”

Bournemouth and Poole College, Newcastle College and Telford College of Arts and Technology are just three of the colleges in England that have expressed an interest and plan to offer this course to students in the next academic year.

Sue Gill, Head of Skills and Training at Tourism South East, added; “This qualification recognises the importance of ‘people’ skills within the service sector and means that students now have the opportunity to gain a qualification that’s in the national framework.”

NCFE is based in Newcastle and provides a range of vocational qualifications to over 750 colleges and centres across the country.

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Media contact Melanie Richardson at Adessi Public Relations
Tel (0191) 269 9460 or E-mail melanie@adessi.co.uk

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