Bitesize Bournemouth visit coastaltourismacademy.co.uk
Health and wellbeing tourism
Visitor Experience
Free product knowledge seminars Many tourism employees in Bournemouth have limited knowledge of the town, but also limited time. In addition to providing resort knowledge through online courses and printed materials, the NCTA offered free, hour-long seminars.
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Bitesize Bournemouth
WHAT WE DID
WHAT WE LEARNT
Bournemouth’s tourism industry comprises many customer facing staff (some from overseas) with little or no knowledge of the resort and its environs. Following consultation with hoteliers, the NCTA hosted 10 free informal face- to-face ‘induction’ sessions providing resort knowledge of the town, along with basic customer care tips in a fast and engaging style through quizzes and video. News of forthcoming major events or a guided walking tour of the town centre were also included. To reduce time away from the business, the sessions were kept strictly to 90 minutes long.
More than 60 employees attended, all saying they found it a helpful learning experience. Sessions were most effective when participants had also undertaken the free Bournemouth Ambassador on-line training course and had access to the staff Welcome handbook.
Bitesize Bournemouth was promoted through trade newsletters, social media, the NCTA website and local press.
The most successful sessions were those held in larger venues where a good number of employees were invited from those venues, allowing minimal disruption to their schedules. (However it was also important to offer a geographical spread of locations beyond the town centre.)
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To ensure all participants benefited, and particularly those looking for a quick refresher, it was vital that the subject matter was constantly updated and a charismatic presenter employed who could facilitate sessions in a fast-paced, lively way.
The NCTA is now creating a toolkit to allow employers to hold their own sessions or to include in their staff induction sessions. 86% of those who attended would recommend Bitesize Bournemouth and the majority felt their staff were better informed. Costs / resources: The Bitesize Programme cost just under £2,000 to develop and operate 10 sessions. Generous local usinesses kept venue costs to a minimum.
CONCLUSION Bitesize Bournemouth is an excellent way of disseminating information to a wide range of employees, who possessed varying resort knowledge, language and communication skills. Large venues attracted the best response as they allowed staff to return to work quickly. However some employers said even a 90 minute session was unpractical. Numbers varied considerably and to reduce costs, an online toolkit has been created providing hotels with the most flexible option. This toolkit will be assessed in 2015 to compare its impact to the Bitesize Bournemouth seminars.