Staff from six local businesses
have successfully completed their ‘WorldHost’ customer service training
qualifications with local marketing trainer, Lynda Willis. WorldHost courses are aimed at helping businesses
in hospitality and tourism to address the skills and challenges of customer
service, deliver a world class experience to all their visitors and ultimately
improve sales.
'Maintaining high levels of customer service is something
that you can never be complacent about so having Lynda to train our staff has
made a huge difference', said Sean Connolly from East Coast Coaches . 'We want to go the extra mile and provide
excellent service to our customers. This
course was a really good opportunity to refresh these skills with our staff.'
The two day course was attended by staff from Deli-Lites,
Art Bar Funkel Restaurant, Clanrye Group, East Coast Coaches, the Courthouse
Restaurant and the Ti Chulainn Cultural Centre in Mullaghbane. Not all the time was spent in the training
room. Part of the course included a
familiarisation trip of some local tourist attractions.
“We
went to Tayto Castle and the Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen Centre in
Banbridge. It was my first time to both
visitor attractions and I will now be able to recommend them to the visitors
who come to stay with us,” commented Mary Martin from the Ti Chulainn Cultural
Centre. ‘Never has there been a better
opportunity for businesses in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry to
showcase the best of Northern Ireland and to provide a warm welcome to our
visitors that will encourage them to spend more money and come back to see us
again in the future.’
To help businesses avail of WorldHost
training, the Department for Employment and Learning is working with People 1st
and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and has developed a funding package for
businesses in the tourism, hospitality or travel sectors.
‘We’re very excited to be delivering
WorldHost especially when Northern Ireland will be very much in the world
headlines over the next two or three years with a range of major events that
are taking place,’ added Lynda Willis, the trainer who delivered the programme
on behalf of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board . ‘Due to the generous funding available, staff in hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs or visitor attractions can have two days’ customer service training for just £20.”
More WorldHost courses are scheduled for various dates in
January and February. For more
information, call 07773 423675 or email lynda@customersensetraining.co.uk
