Which tourists visiting the UK expect to be greeted with a bow? Or a formal handshake? Who will complain most vociferously and immediately and who will enter into long detailed talks about seemingly the most minor of details?
The eyes of the world will be on the UK for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and these are among the practical questions that managers in the tourism industry need to consider.
Welcoming overseas visitors and exceeding their expectations for trips here will be essential to maximising the economic benefit of hosting the Olympics. The tourism industry is at the forefront in providing visitors with memorable experiences and encouraging them to spend more and to return for future trips.
According to the Anholt-GMI Nations Brand Index (September 2006), the UK was ranked a lowly 16th as being “a country where people would make you feel welcome”. Many tourism businesses do provide genuinely outstanding customer care but it’s not consistent across the industry.
London 2012 could provide a catalyst for a culture shift in our attitudes to customer service and training will be at the heart of delivering such a culture change.
Clear skills gap have been defined within the tourism sector, especially in customer service and communications skills.
Yet delivering solutions is not straightforward. There are an estimated 500 qualifications for the tourism and hospitality sector, an often impenetrable maze of courses, awards and funding routes before any training gets under way.
Approximately £600 million is invested by government in skills for the sector. However, research indicates that 80% of employers have no idea how to access this support.
There is no doubt that such investment will deliver a return. The tourism industry is worth £74.2 billion and the industry employs around 2.1 million people in the UK.
The nature of the industry, with its diverse business types, results in many challenges in securing commitment to investing in customer service training that is fit for purpose.
Almost 50% of industry staff work in small businesses such as B&Bs, guest houses, hotels, restaurants and pubs. The seasonal nature of the sector means businesses such as hotels and visitor attractions employ many temporary and part-time staff. Opportunities for training are constrained by the need for flexibility and day-to-day business demands.
How do we ensure training is ‘fit for purpose’, especially for welcoming the millions of new visitors heading for these shores in the run-up to, during and after London 2012?
People 1st is currently reviewing provision and individual courses, working with businesses and key industry bodies such as VisitBritain to develop a strategy that will tackle such issues.
There is a stated target of ensuring that the sector has access to high quality customer service training provision available to all, through training providers or online, which is modularised and offers basic customer service development through to ‘gold standard’ experience training.
This commitment to driving quality of customer service is being backed by VisitBritain, the publicly-funded national tourism agency responsible for marketing Britain worldwide.
Tourism South East, the regional tourism board for South East England, is already leading the way in increasing access and provision of customer service training.
More than 300,000 participants have undertaken the one-day Welcome Host course nationwide since its 1991 launch. Delivered by Tourism South East, it has become established as the leading customer service training programme in the UK.
One-day, ‘bite-sized’ customer service courses, which are totally vocationally-centred and incorporate interactive training, role play, group sessions and action plans as well as trainer presentations can effectively motivate staff and provide the essentials to make a different to how they deliver customer service excellence.
Such training means limited time out of the workplace, using easy to understand learning methodologies, providing realistic outcomes and equipping employees with usable, practical knowledge and skills.
In summary, the industry needs a clear agreement on what courses are most ‘fit for purpose’ to raise customer service standards, and this process must be led by employers. Tourism, leisure and hospitality employers must be encouraged to see real bottom line benefits in investing in such training.
Many are small businesses and we need to recognise their distinct pressures, and define and agree standards and courses that are easy to access and genuinely fit for purpose. Then we will be in a position to gain the industry’s full backing and start to make progress in climbing the international league table as a nation that offers a world-class welcome and customer service to international visitors.
About the Author:
Sue Gill is the Head of Skills and Training for Tourism South East who offer a range of customer service training courses. This full version of this article originally featured in Customer Management magazine - April 2007.
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