Tourism operators in the Highlands and Islands will soon be benefiting from improvements made to two of the most influential industry training courses in Scotland. The revised 'Welcome Host' and 'Scotland's Best Service' courses have just been unveiled to an audience of training providers and industry representatives in Inverness.

Both courses have been credited with bringing about a huge 'step-change' in the attitudes of tourism businesses to staff training and motivation, and to the quality of service offered to visitors.

It is now 8 years since the Welcome Host course was introduced, and in that time some 45,000 people have taken part. The 'Scotland's Best' course is over 5 years old. This is the first time they have both been revised to reflect the changing demands upon the industry and the ever-increasing competition from overseas destinations. The course materials have been substantially changed, along with the video programmes used which have been specifically developed for the Scottish market.

The courses are managed by the Tourism Training Partnership (TTP) which is co-funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Enterprise.

The revised Welcome Host course now includes training in greeting customers in Gaelic and foreign languages and the introduction of service standards in a job. It also encourages participants to identify ways in which visitors can be encouraged to stay longer in any particular area or business, and ways in which their spending can be increased.

The more substantial changes have been made to Scotland's Best. This has now been re-branded as 'Scotland's Best Service' and will incorporate a recognition programme for businesses. They will be able to use the Scotland's Best Service logo on marketing materials after undergoing a rigorous development procedure. Achievement in industry quality assurance schemes such as those run by the Scottish Tourist Board will also be taken into account as part of the recognition process.

Ann McAvoy, partner in TTP said: "We are delighted with the changes that have been made to two such important Scottish tourism industry training programmes and look forward to them continuing to be well received and supported by the industry."

"The Scotland's Best Service Business Recognition programme has been introduced as a result of the requests from industry to acknowledge those businesses that are training and developing to give our visitors excellent service. Those companies who have become recognised will be able to market themselves as Scotland's Best Service providers, helping to give them more of a competitive edge."

Chris Taylor, skills development manager at HIE said: "These programmes will help ensure businesses across the Highlands and Islands are able to meet the training needs of their employees and also satisfy the rising expectations of todays' discerning tourism visitors."