NEWS | Wednesday, 22 August 2007

Senior employees in the tourism sector attend service culture training

Over 175 senior employees in the tourism sector have recently completed the Service Culture training programme organised by the Malta Tourism Authority as part of the Tourism and Support Services Training Programme. This was announced by the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Dr Francis Zammit Dimech during a presentation of certificates to tourism senior employees who participated in this training programme. The presentation of the certificates was held at some of the participants work environment which included Heritage Malta, McDonalds, NSTS Aqua Centre and Coastline Hotel.
“In a country like ours where human resources are our main asset, it was important that employees in the tourism sector, and in support tourism services, are given training and that there should be a constant development of these human resources.  Employees in this sector should be kept abreast of developments in this sector so that, as far as possible, we remain one step forward of our competitors,” stated the Minister for Tourism and Culture Francis Zammit Dimech. The Minister for Tourism and Culture added that the Malta Tourism Authority, in collaboration with the Employment and Training Corporation and the Institute for Tourism Studies is organising a number of short courses for those persons that are employed in the tourism industry.
The ‘Service Culture’ training programme is one of the five main activities forming part of the ‘Tourism and Support Services Training Programme’ (TSSTP). The TSSTP was co-financing by the EU from the 2004/2006 Structural Funds and the Government of Malta. The development of this project arises primarily from the need to provide for a holistic approach towards training and human resources development in tourism and tourism-support services. The programmes cover the whole spectrum of sectors where there is contact between the host and the tourist, and were free of charge to all participants.
The ‘Service Culture’ training programme is a multimedia train-the-trainer programme aimed at the nurturing of a service culture to compliment the tourism product. The Malta Tourism Authority also developed a training multimedia tool including a DVD feature that portrays a typical tourist’s journey from time of arrival to departure, clearly indicating the do’s and don’ts on how to approach the tourist. This tool together with an accompanying CD ROM and Handbook, made up the multimedia pack to be used as a training aid by managers of tourism-related support services to train their staff.
Commenting about the training programmes, Mr Sam Mifsud MTA Chairman said “The Authority believes that people can impact the success of tourism-related organisations. The MTA will further tap on more EU funds so that it can organise more professional development programmes of this calibre aimed at improving human resource development in the tourism industry.”
The MTA implemented these programmes with the support of a consortium composed of MISCO, JP Advertising and Irish company ‘Optimum Results’, who looked after the training, PR and information dissemination, and SMEs respectively. This contract was awarded by public tender.