The competition is looking for someone who “goes above and beyond the call of duty and is a real ambassador for the local area. Knowledgeable and friendly, they embody the soul of an English holiday destination.”

The winner will be announced during English Tourism Week, which runs from 10-18 March and shines a light on the best of the industry. They will receive their award at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence Gala in May, while person who nominates the winner will win a pair of sneak peek tickets to the UK’s newest attraction: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.

Do you know someone who fits the bill?Find out how to nominate your tourism superstar on the Mirror website.

A recent industry survey revealed that 75 percent of respondents believe the UK needs to improve its customer service offer ahead of the Olympics* and, in response, the People 1st Training Company is now offering businesses across Scotland the opportunity to attend one of two complimentary WorldHost™ Customer Service training taster sessions being delivered at the IET – Teachers Building in Glasgow on 22 February.

WorldHost will be used to train tens of thousands of staff and contractors working at London 2012, and is also recommended as one of the legacy programmes for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and backed by leading Scottish businesses including the Gleneagles Hotel and Visit Scotland. WorldHost™ is now recognised as a global leader in customer service training and has been used to train nearly one million people worldwide – including 40,000 volunteers and tourism staff during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Scotland is set to reap some of the financial benefit from increased visitor numbers coming to the UK this summer with Glasgow selected as one of only a handful of cities outside London to host an Olympic event. This, in addition to a number of training camps being established in Scotland leading up to the games and the Olympic Torch Relay that begins its journey around the UK in May, will undoubtedly place much greater focus upon the quality of the visitor experience delivered by Scotland’s passenger transport, hospitality and tourism businesses.

David Allen, Head of Scotland for the People 1st Training Company, comments: “The recognition that we need to get better at customer service should be a wake-up call to businesses in Scotland looking to make the most of the estimated £2bn that could be generated across the whole of the UK by the Olympics. With the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and the re-run of Scottish Homecoming only two years away, this is a great opportunity to not only showcase to the world the quality of the visitor experience we have on offer in Scotland, but the difference well trained staff can make to bottom line profit, staff retention and repeat custom.

“WorldHost is a modern and energetic training programme that can be used across a variety of industries where the quality of front-line customer service is key to the success of the business.”

Executives, business owners, independent trainers or those that are responsible for training within organisations are all welcome at the taster sessions.

Those wishing to attend should visit www.worldhost.uk.com or register by e-mailing Lorraine.birrell@people1st.co.uk or by calling 0131 654 0687.

Event: WorldHost™ Taster Sessions (Hospitality & Tourism)

Cost: Complimentary Pre-registration is required with spaces offered on a first come, first served basis.

Date: Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Time: 9:30pm – 12:00pm (refreshments provided)

Location: IET Teachers Building – Glasgow

Event: WorldHost™ Taster Sessions (Passenger Transport)

Cost: Complimentary Pre-registration is required with spaces offered on a first come, first served basis.

Date: Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Time: 2:30pm – 5:00pm (refreshments provided)

Location: IET Teachers Building – Glasgow

What makes this application of empowerment unusual is the process that underpins it. Each employee is given their own personal WOW Card to record the actions they have taken to delight the customer, which are then inputted into a staff database as a means of sharing ideas and encouraging wider participation. Moreover, staff are formally recognised and rewarded for participating: when their card has five Wows on it they are offered a drink at the bar; ten Wows gets them a free meal in the restaurant; and all cards are entered into an annual draw with a chance to win a luxury trip to New York.

Hence, employees are actively encouraged to use their authority to find new ways to develop brand loyalty – not only in response to customer complaints, but also by proactively seeking opportunities to exceed guests’ expectations. Like, for example, offering complimentary nibbles to accompany a bottle of champagne; or like the member of the maintenance team who noticed a guest’s expensive suitcase had a wheel missing and, without prompting, sourced and fitted a replacement wheel.

Unlike some other companies’ empowerment schemes, this one imposes no financial parameters on actions taken by staff. However, each entry on a WOW card has to be posted to a cost code and signed off by the unit’s Deputy General Manager, who may wish to discuss the appropriateness of the action and resulting cost with the member of staff.

Is there a net cost-benefit of schemes that demonstrate that a company values and trusts its staff? Certainly, in this particular case the board and investors of Malmaison and Hotel du Vin believe so and would point to the fact that their labour turnover is reducing seven per-cent a year – contributing over £100,000 to the profitability of the company.

Its training programmes, amongst the best in our industry, have always been designed to develop the management skills of the employees, but now they must also include the leadership ability necessary to take decisions in a more complex, transparent world.

The business is growing, which means that its managers could be responsible for forty per-cent more staff in restaurants offering customers a broader menu than ever before. Moreover, they increasingly have to be conscious of the needs of a wide range of other interested parties including: the local community; government at local and national levels; those having environmental concerns; other pressure groups; the media; as well as the ever-rising expectations of restaurant customers. All this in addition to the manager’s delegated responsibility to manage the P&L account!

Company training strategy must now enable managers to deal with these multi-dimensional set of challenges on a daily basis, often without delay. Hence, they are now given the skills to build trust, not only with their workforce, but also with the community at a local level. They must be ambassadors: representing their business to all its varied stakeholders. The old days when the operational manual held all the answers are long gone: leaders now need a broader set of skills and thinking that can determine and deliver solutions at a speed required of the modern communication age.

Read more on the Hospitality Leadership blog: www.hospitalityleadership.com/blog

In response to this, People 1st is asking visitors to its websites who work, or want to work, in the hospitality industry, to take two minutes of their time and fill out the online survey at the address below.

www.people1stsurveys.co.uk/hospitalityclub

The results from the survey will help determine what people expect to get out of joining such an organisation. A voucher for £50 is up for grabs for best suggestions in the survey!

The aim of the organisation is to provide a one-stop-shop for students, apprentices, employees, and businesses in the industry – a place where hospitality professionals can call home, where they can network with each other, get mentoring help to choose the right career path, contact potential employers, join a trade body that represents their profession, put their name down on an industry register, etc.

The online survey closes on 27 January 2012.

PACE is committed to supporting its members during these difficult economic times, and through its conference – the UK’s biggest dedicated to catering education – it will offer solutions, guidance, innovations, new perspectives and training to inspire delegates to think differently and smartly, and be altogether more enterprising in the management and delivery of hospitality and culinary education.

The PACE Conference & Exhibition 2012 is a must-attend event for everyone responsible for hospitality and culinary education – including all further- and higher-education colleges and universities offering hospitality qualifications, secondary school hospitality teachers, awarding bodies and training providers.

The learning and development forum offers a comprehensive programme of workshops, masterclasses, presentations by sector experts, networking sessions and a supplier exhibition. Time-pressured delegates will have the opportunity to get the inside track on the latest topics, trends, government legislation and funding developments affecting them. They will also be able to share insights and ideas with peers and learn about product and services advances – all in just two days!

The PACE Conference & Exhibition 2012 also presents a real opportunity for suppliers to the hospitality industry. PACE members account for a significant amount of expenditure and purchases across food, beverages, catering equipment, training materials and service agreements, and exhibitors will benefit from being in the company of the decision makers from catering colleges, universities and schools across the country.

Highlights for the 2012 event include the Front of House Demonstration Theatre, where baristas, flarers and sommeliers will be demonstrating the art of their profession; the Culinary Demonstration Theatre, featuring top industry chefs giving masterclasses on curriculum subjects; and inspiring presentations by respected industry experts. The post-16 Education and Training agenda guru, Ainsley Cheetham, is returning, by popular demand, to give his visionary take on funding and commercial opportunities, for example, whilst chief executive of Adande, Nigel Bell, will be talking about World Skills, London in his presentation ‘Have A Go Brand’.

Hot topics on the agenda for PACE Conference & Exhibition 2012:

• Funding Methodology
• Entrepreneurship, Enterprise & Education
• Entrepreneurship & Online Business Networking
• Entrepreneurship, Colleges and the Curriculum
• Entrepreneurship, FE & Skills
• ‘Have A Go Brand’

Delegate-relevant workshops include:

• Safeguarding
• PACE Heads of School Strategy Forum
• Representative from awarding bodies including City & Guilds, Edexcel & EDI
• HE in FE

Inspirational live masterclasses will cover:

• Induction Equipment: Cooking & Benefits
• Wok Works
• Premium Sausage Making
• Barista
• Chocolate Skills
• Food & Wine Paring
• Bread Making
• Mixology

Geoff Booth, Chief Executive, PACE comments: “The funding cuts that have blighted hospitality and catering education institutions have made it incredibly difficult for managers, lecturers and teachers to operate as we would wish to. We can only hope that this is an unintended consequence of a widespread approach by government to solving the economic crisis we face in the UK. The PACE Conference & Exhibition 2012 has been specifically designed to empower delegates to respond creatively to these tough times. Delegates will be given the ideas, knowledge and inspiration to approach the tasks ahead a little differently, to make the funding they have go further, whilst continuing to maintain and improve on the exceptional standards provided by training providers within UK Hospitality training sector. In effect, we are aiming to replace what is being removed by funding issues with creativity, ingenuity and agility.”

For further information about the PACE 2012 Exhibition and Conference and to book delegate tickets or exhibition space go to www.mcculloughmoore.co.uk/pace or call 0870 777 9566.

Staff at The Old Rectory on the lake have undergone WorldHost training to ensure they are equipped with industry leading customer service skills and impeccable local knowledge to deliver to customers.

The WorldHost customer service programme has a proven track record worldwide and was used to train 39,000 staff for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The programme was brought to the UK by People 1st and adapted to meet the needs of the local hospitality and tourism industry in Wales.

Thanks to WorldHost, staff at The Old Rectory have the hosting skills to match the magnificent location. The co-owners of the luxury bed and breakfast have undergone training in order to provide the warmest welcome and ensure it is not just the location but the hospitality which tourists remember following their visit.

The training allowed staff at The Old Rectory on the lake to re-identify what was necessary to ensure good-quality service. This included the importance of a good welcome, the value of good listening skills while learning of how to tackle potentially inflammatory situations through role-play and gaining an understanding of the importance of the tourism industry to the strength of the Welsh economy.

Speaking of the training Ricky Francis, co-owner and chef, said: “We are lucky enough to be situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty which is a big draw for guests. However, it is important not to rest on our laurels and think that location alone is enough for our visitors.

“We want to make sure our discerning guests enjoy an all-round fantastic experience. We like to think our hosting is excellent but there is always something to learn and we saw WorldHost as the perfect way of refreshing our skills and remaining at the top of our game.

“Hospitality can be a tough industry to work in but ensuring hosting skills are first class can make people want to come back, creating a sustainable business over a long period of time. We have one couple from the West Midlands who have returned 22 times which highlights what going the extra mile can achieve.”

People 1st , the sector skills council for hospitality, passenger transport, travel and tourism has ambitious plans, aiming to deliver WorldHost training to 200,000 people across Britain.

Its research shows that 40 per cent of London hospitality businesses alone are concerned about meeting the expectations of their visitors and expects similar concerns across the UK.

Phil Raynsford, Strategic Programmes Director for People 1st, said: “According to new figures from the Office for National Statistics, tourism pumps millions into the north Wales economy.

“The hospitality and tourism industry is one of the largest employers in north Wales. WorldHost gives employers the chance to train their staff in a programme that has a proven track record worldwide and achieve a recognised qualification that they can keep for life.

“Snowdonia is lucky to boast some of the world’s most stunning scenery which brings visitors flocking from across the globe. However, it is vital that as a nation we seize this opportunity and make a good impression to visitors which will reflect well on Wales and further boost visitor numbers.

“The WorldHost programme aims to achieve just this and promote Wales on an international stage, not just for sporting achievements but for having the best customer service skill in the world too.”

For more information visit: http://www.worldhost.uk.com/wales

The competition marks the first of a series of fantastic, ‘money can’t buy’ work experience opportunities with a selection of UKSP’s registered ‘Good Employers’ – all of whom have signed a commitment to the training and development of their staff.

All travel and accommodation costs will be covered for the winning applicant, who will also be featured across various media channels, including the UKSP site, Facebook and Twitter pages and press activity.

To be in with a chance of winning this invaluable experience, simply visit the competition page on UKSP and fill in the entry criteria. The deadline for entries is 20 January 2012.

For more information about the exciting career opportunities available across the vibrant hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industry, as well as details of the best training and qualifications to kick start your career, visit www.uksp.co.uk

Under licence from People 1st, NITB will deliver the WorldHost customer service training programme to thousands of tourism staff across Northern Ireland, helping to raise service quality to international standards.

The partnership comes at an opportune time, as the NI 2012 programme of events, which includes the Titanic Centenary programme, and Derry-Londonderry’s stint as the UK’s City of Culture 2013 promise to attract thousands of visitors to Northern Ireland. If the tourism industry is to capitalise on this unique opportunity to raise its profile on a worldwide stage, delivering excellent customer service will be essential.

With over one million people trained worldwide, WorldHost customer service training gives front-line staff a comprehensive grounding in the principles of customer service and acting as an ambassador for their local area.

Originally developed in Canada – widely perceived as the global leader for customer service – WorldHost also has a track record of being used to support world-class events. The programme was used to train 39,000 tourism staff and volunteers in the run-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and is also being used at London 2012 to train thousands of staff and contractors working at the Olympic and Paralympic venues.

Roisin McKee, People 1st’s Northern Ireland manager, commented: “Customer service is a vital part of the visitor experience, but it is a real skills need for tourism businesses – our recent State of the Nation report found that 64 percent of employers feel that customer handling skills need improving within their workforce. This is why we are introducing WorldHost customer service training to Northern Ireland. WorldHost has a proven track record, and we are delighted that NITB is partnering with us to deliver the programme.

“This new venture will support and complement the positive work that People 1st and NITB have undertaken together to date in support of the Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland to 2020. In particular, it will help to drive our ambition for businesses to deliver an authentic Northern Ireland experience, by ensuring that visitors are provided with a world-class service.”

Kathryn Thompson, chief operating officer for NITB, added: “This is an exciting time for Northern Ireland tourism. With the NI 2012 programme of events, many exciting project launches and the Derry-Londonderry City of Culture celebrations in 2013, we have an unprecedented opportunity to put Northern Ireland on the map and to generate future tourism business. Supporting businesses to deliver a world-class welcome will be critical in ensuring that we grasp this opportunity, and we believe that the WorldHost programme is the best solution to achieve this.”

Plans are now progressing to launch WorldHost across Northern Ireland in the New Year. A ‘master trainer,’ responsible for preparing other trainers to deliver the WorldHost programme, has been appointed, and a network of trainers will be established over the coming months.

More information on WorldHost customer service training is available at www.worldhostNI.com

Drivers at north Wales- bus operator Arriva coaches are set to undergo WorldHost customer service training in a bid to ensure it offers the best possible service to customers, whether it’s with a warm welcome, or first class knowledge of the area.

The WorldHost customer service programme has a proven track record worldwide and was used to train 39,000 staff for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic.  The programme was brought to the UK last year by People 1^st and adapted to meet the needs of the passenger transport and tourism industry.

The travel operator provides a number of bus routes including Wrexham to Chester, Wrexham to Minera and even Wrexham to the seaside at Barmouth.  Whether it is short -trips to the local shopping centre for locals or day trip options for those that want to explore the beauty of the region, Arriva want its drivers and others, to act as tour guides; providing information and history of the local area as well driving passengers across the region.

To achieve this Arriva will roll-out WorldHost training to its drivers following a successful trial with the company’s management team. Around 60 drivers will receive training before the end of November 2011, with the aim of delivering the training to the 500 drivers that cover the north Wales area in time for the 2012 tourist season.

Speaking of the scheme, Michael Morton, Wales’ managing director for Arriva, said:  “North Wales welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors ever year and we want to make sure our service will provide more than just a means of transport for our passengers.  We want to make our customers feel welcome while providing them with useful information about the area.

“Our drivers already undergo a number of transport-specific qualifications but we wanted to deliver training akin to that used in the hospitality industry and saw WorldHost as the perfect match.”

Phil Raynsford, strategic programmes director for People 1^st, said: “The tourism industry is an increasingly competitive industry and WorldHost provides companies with an edge over rivals. WorldHost gives employers the chance to train their staff in a programme that has a proven track record worldwide and achieve a recognised qualification that they can keep for life. 

“By undergoing WorldHost training Arriva ensures that customers will be treated to the best possible experience, making sure Wales is on the map for fantastic hospitality.”

People 1^st, the sector skills council for hospitality, passenger transport, travel and tourism has ambitious plans, aiming to deliver WorldHost training to 200,000 people across Britain.

The WorldHost programme aims to promote Wales on an international stage, delivering the best customer service skills in the world and providing a unique ‘Warm Welsh Welcome’ whether it is from taxi drivers, sales assistants or civil enforcement officers.

For more information visit: www.worldhost.uk.com/wales