175 senior employees in tourism attend service culture training

More than 175 senior employees in the tourism sector have recently completed service culture training, 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 participants. The presentation of certificates was held at the workplace of some of the participants, including Heritage Malta, McDonald's, NSTS Aqua Centre and Coastline Hotel.

"In a country like ours where human resources are our main asset, it was important that employees working in tourism and support tourism services are given training, and that there should be a constant development of human resources. Employees in this sector should be kept abreast of developments in so that we remain as much as possible one step forward," the minister said.

He added that the MTA, in collaboration with ETC and the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS), is organising a number of short courses for those employed in the tourism industry.

The service culture training programme is one of five main activities forming part of the Tourism and Support Services Training Programme (TSSTP), which is co-financed by the EU from the 2004/2006 Structural Funds and the Maltese Government.

The development of this project arises primarily from the need to provide a holistic approach towards training and HR 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 for all.

TSSTP is a multimedia train-the-trainer programme aimed at nurturing a service culture to complement tourism. The MTA also developed a training multi-media tool, including a DVD featuring a typical tourist's journey, from time of arrival to departure, clearly indicating the dos and donts on how to approach the tourist. This tool, together with an accompanying CD-ROM and handbook, can be used as a training aid by managers of to train their staff.

Commenting about the training programmes, MTA chairman Sam Mifsud 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 HR development in the tourism industry."

The MTA implemented these programmes with the support of a consortium composed of training, recruitment and market research company 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.

The Industry Human Resources Development Unit within the MTA is responsible for the development of national human resource development initiatives for the tourism industry. For more information contact the unit at MTA on 2291-5122/3/4 or e-mail training@visitmalta.com.