New national standard for Customer Service Training is launched to help tackle poor customer service levels within the Scottish Hospitality & Tourism Sector.

With Scotland set to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games and other major sporting events, sector skills council for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism, People 1st, is launching a new campaign within Scotland to encourage businesses to improve the quality and delivery of their welcome to visitors.

The campaign – comprising a new national standard for customer service training in Scotland – is being officially kicked off on the 8th June at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat, by Minerva People Limited, one of the first companies to be licensed by People 1st to deliver WorldHost training in Scotland.

Tricia Hunter, managing director at Minerva People said:  “At Minerva we recognise that customer service is crucial to the long-term success of Scottish tourism, we believe passionately in it and are delighted that People 1st has recognised this need and developed a new, fresh and innovative customer service standard for the industry.  We are proud to have added to our training portfolio a product that tourism businesses we engage with agree, is much needed and long overdue.”

Her view is supported by Dave Smith, Owner of the Buccleuch Arms Hotel, he said:  "Being a hotel with a strong belief in training and customer service levels we are delighted to be a part of this new programme and are excited about participating in the first training sessions being held in Scotland. We are confident that this programme will make a meaningful difference to the service offered in this region and can only benefit tourism in general as well as the individual businesses that take it on board. I suspect that WorldHost will be just the start of an exciting journey for many businesses.  Am I excited -  oh yes !! "

Supporting actions set out by the Scottish Tourism Skills Strategy, WorldHost covers the Principles of Customer Service as well as offering additional modules on serving customers with disabilities, service across cultures, and an ambassador’s workshop.  Each of these new programmes will help organisations boost their customer service skills levels as well as providing individuals with valuable and transferable skills.

David Allen, head of Scotland at People 1st, said:  “WorldHost provides a truly innovative and world-class approach to customer service training and one that will make a significant and lasting difference to the Scottish visitor experience.   Although there will be a great deal of focus placed on developing the right skills infrastructure for the 2014 Commonwealth Games over the next few years, we must not lose sight of the importance of supporting our small and rural tourism businesses in delivering a high quality visitor experience.  The flexibility of the WorldHost programmes, coupled with the quality of our licensed trainers across Scotland, will allow this new standard to be reachable for businesses of all shapes, sizes and locations.”

Research undertaken for People 1st’s 2010 State of the Nation report highlighted that 65% of businesses reporting skills gaps stated that staff were lacking in the necessary customer service skills.   Tourism is one of Scotland’s largest sectors, employing over 200,000 people and contributing over £4.2bn to the economy.