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‘Once in a lifetime’ chance to transform Britain’s customer service!
Major training industry conference tackles tourism skills needed by 2012
Changing British attitudes to customer service - and achieving world-class standards in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games - were the challenges set out for a national training and skills conference held on November 30 in Milton Keynes.
The conference - Hosting the World: Achieving world-beating customer service by 2012 - focused on the opportunity to raise professionalism in the tourism industry through better training programmes, bringing together leading speakers from the tourism, training and skills sectors from the UK and overseas. It was organised by Tourism South East in partnership with the regional tourism organisations and involved speakers from Visit Britain, Tourism British Columbia and People 1st.
Jenni Hopkyns from Tourism British Columbia, pioneer of the acclaimed Superhost training programme, outlined how Canada was already gearing up for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. According to the Anholt-GMI Nations Brand Index (September 2006), the UK was in 16th place as being a country where people would make you feel welcome. Canada was in first place.
The conference included workshops and debate on the drive to define what is required from the training industry, employers’ and customers’ perspective to improve customer service standards; and to consider the content, nature and delivery of new skills development programmes.
Tourism South East’s Head of Skills and Training Sue Gill said: “The London 2012 Games offer a once in a lifetime opportunity to really raise the game in delivering exceptional customer service. Tourism businesses will be at the forefront in welcoming as many as one million extra visitors to the country, not just in London but across the South East and further afield. Making their experience a memorable one will be key to repeat business and to maximising the reputation of the UK as a fantastic tourist destination.”
There are an estimated 1.4 million jobs in tourism in the UK, representing some 5% of all people in employment in the UK, according to VisitBritain. An estimated 70,000 volunteers will form part of the Olympic welcome team. The DCMS has reported that the cash benefits of the Olympics have been projected at £1.4 - £2billion for the tourism industry, with an additional 500,000 overseas visitors to London alone for the Games themselves.
Sue Gill said: “It’s was a real coup for us to be able to hear directly how Canada is using Superhost to prepare the industry for 2010. Canadian tourism and leisure businesses are renowned for customer care, and they realise the importance of adapting and shaping service standards for the influx of international visitors. Here in the UK, we must consider areas like improving our welcome to different nationalities, understanding varied cultures, language issues and how best to present facilities and tourism products to overseas visitors. For more information on customer service management training please contact us directly.”
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