Press release -
Be our guest
Scotland is world-renowned for its warm welcome to visitors – and for VisitScotland, it’s now official.
The national tourism organisation has become a WorldHost Recognised Business, acknowledging its commitment to high quality customer service.
It comes after more than 80% of VisitScotland iCentre staff completed the customer service training programme – part of a Scotland wide initiative designed to help improve the overall quality and consistency of the Scottish tourism offer.
In addition, the tourism body is leading the way in gold standard customer service with seven of its staff, trained as in-house WorldHost trainers, also leading sessions for major industry partners in the tourism sector – including Virgin Rail, National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and Highlife Highland.
Licensed and managed in the UK by workforce development experts People 1st, the WorldHost programmes provide a gold standard in customer service training for any business that relies on day-to-day interaction with customers. They offer support on how to make the right first impression, build rapport and communicate with customers in the most effective way.
Visitor information and customer service is extremely important for the visitor experience. A recent Scotland Visitor Survey found that half (49%) of visitors sought information for things to see and do during their stay by talking to local people while a third (34%) visited a VisitScotland iCentre.
Independent analysis of five iCentres (Aberfeldy, Arbroath, Dundee, Perth and Pitlochry) using reviews website, TripAdvisor, found that, following the WorldHost training, at least 80% of reviewers gave the majority of sites a 5-star review.
TripAdvisor reviews and ratings were selected as a measure of the performance of the iCentres as it was felt these would reflect the improved customer service skills of the staff.
WorldHost programmes has already been rolled out to more than 23,500 frontline employees operating within the Scottish tourism sector, just over 11% of the overall workforce, with further expansion of the initiative planned over the next 12 months.
In June of this year, Caithness became the first region across the UK to achieve WorldHost Destination status and towns as far north as Elgin and Lerwick in Shetland received similar accolades.
With over 575 businesses now recognised and accredited for the quality of their WorldHost offering, the initiative is fast becoming the must have badge and benchmark for any business serious about raising the standard its customer service offering.,
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
“VisitScotland understands that tourism is more than a holiday experience – it creates jobs and sustains communities in every corner of the country and is at the heart of the Scottish economy – which is why it is important to invest in staff to improve the visitor experience.
“WorldHost is a globally recognised training scheme, most notable for training the highly commended staff and volunteers at the London Olympics in 2012, and we are delighted to be a fully accredited organisation with our iCentres staff trained to the same high standards.
“Scotland is renowned for its warm and friendly welcome to visitors and our involvement with the WorldHost programme reflects that and reinforces our ethos, across the iCentre network, of exceeding customer expectations.”
David Allen, Director of Scotland for People 1st said:
“We are delighted to welcome Visit Scotland to our growing community of WorldHost Recognised businesses in Scotland.Their support and commitment towards the WorldHost initiative, and the positive results this training has already delivered back into their business, sets a positive example that every business operating within Scottish tourism can emulate, regardless of size, location or industry.
“Our goal at People 1st is to help ensure that all visitors who to come to Scotland enjoy a world-class visitor experience - helping Scotland to stand out as must visit destination in an increasingly competitive global tourism market.
For more information about WorldHost training, visit http://scotland.worldhost.co.uk/
- ENDS -
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design started on 1 January 2016 and will end on 31 December 2016.It will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
