Tourism businesses across Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey are being offered free business and skills development support, following the recent appointment of an area tourism training advisor.

Diane Burnett has been appointed as part of the developing skills team at Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise and is a new addition to the services provided by the enterprise company. She has already begun contacting many businesses in the area to offer support and advice.

Commenting on her role, she said:  "The focus of the job is very much on clarifying the precise needs of tourism businesses in the area and helping them to address these. Skills development is of vital importance to the tourism sector and part of my job is to work with businesses on areas where they feel there are skills gaps. I can put clients in touch with relevant training providers or even arrange specific courses where appropriate. In addition I can provide information about other services available through MBSE."

"The new service is all about helping local operators provide an excellent service to tourists. Going that extra mile for the customer can make all the difference to a visitor and the local economy as a result. If, for example, we could get all our existing visitors (0.9 million) to stay one extra night each, this would generate an extra £40 million of income to the local economy."

Along with her colleagues in MBSE, Diane has been working on arranging a series of training courses for the Autumn/Winter period.  These range from management and leadership skills through to marketing and tourism focused courses.  They include the Scotland's Best Service Management seminar, and the Natural Cooking of Scotland one-day awareness seminar, which offers practical hints, demonstrations and delicious recipes using local produce.

Diane splits her week between MBSE offices in Forres and Aviemore and is interested to hear from any tourism operators that would like to discuss skills or training related issues.  She can be contacted on 01309 696000 (Forres), or 01479 810188 (Aviemore) or by email (diane.burnett@hient.co.uk).