100k welcomes underway in Highlands and Islands

Businesses engaged in delivering the Scottish tourism experience to customers can now get support through innovative training events to help deliver a great customer experience.

The 100k Welcomes programme is inspired by the traditional Gaelic greeting Ceud Mìle Fàilte and has its first training programme underway at Inverlochy Castle, Lochaber tomorrow (Tuesday). 

The new programme will be rolled out to tourism and hospitality businesses in an attempt to boost customer care and leadership in the industry. 

The Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development, Glasgow Caledonian University, in partnership with Ascension Solutions Ltd have developed the training programme on behalf of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Enterprise.  As a key element of the Scottish Executive's Tourism Framework for Change which was launched earlier this year, it aims to help achieve 50 per cent growth in tourism revenue by 2015. 

The programme has been two years in the making, involving considerable industry consultation to ensure it responded to the demands of the modern day tourism market. The new training initiative is building on the tourism training of the past decade - Scotland's Best Service and Welcome Host, which benefited more than 90,000 employees and managers to date.

Professor John Lennon from The Moffat Centre said:  "100k Welcomes is specifically designed to help businesses achieve that growth - and more.  We also offer inspiration to people working in the front line.  Jobs facing the customer can be demanding yet incredibly rewarding. We want everyone in Scotland to realise what an important industry tourism is and that it offers almost limitless career opportunities. A 100k Welcome training event is just the start."

Audrey Maclennan, HIE senior development manager said:  "A key challenge for the Scottish tourism sector comes from the increasing competition in the global marketplace. 

"There are now more than 200 countries offering specific tourism products for the discerning tourist.  Commitment from the industry to improve service, customer experience and satisfaction is pivotal to help build on our reputation as a world class destination.  

"We are confident that 100k Welcomes will prove to be an excellent addition to our existing support package for the tourism sector. For example, Hospitality Assured has already proved to be very popular and effective in helping business determine what their training needs actually are. Our partnership arrangement with Springboard Scotland provides a team of recruitment and retention specialists who are working hard to raise the profile of the tourism industry and help employers better attract and retain staff.

"We now have three key initiatives tailored to address the main business development issues holding back growth and we welcome any feedback on any gaps that may exist."
 
Charlotte Wright, chief executive of Lochaber Enterprise said:  "We are delighted to be hosting the first 100k Welcomes Leadership Training Course here in Lochaber. The course supports a shared vision for the Outdoor Capital.  The benefits of this training are clearly evident while being delivered by fully trained people delivering excellent service."

Delivered by accredited trainers, 100k Welcomes consists of three courses.  These are:  Tourism Leadership - for owners, managers, supervisors and those with responsibility for recruiting, training and developing staff; Tourism Operators - for front-line staff and Tourism Stars - for 'stars' of the front line and/or managers of the future.

100k Welcomes training courses are taking place at venues across the Highlands and Islands over the next two months. 

For further information on 100k Welcomes, please contact Steven Spencer on 01592 840090 or e-mail info@100kwelcomes.co.uk, or please visit the 100k Welcomes website