<i>Merħba</i> trains over 1,500 in two years

"Our islands are promoted overseas by three key selling points - heritage, hospitality and diversity. It is essential that we give students a flavour of all three as part of their English language learning experience," said Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco during a certificate presentation to over 200 group leaders in the EFL sector, at the Phoenicia Hotel.

This will encourage them to return, perhaps with a different purpose, or promote our islands to family and friends. For the future success and sustainability of tourism in Malta we count on the professional service rendered by each entrepreneur, director, English language teacher, group leader and employee working in tourism to improve the product offer and exceed guests' expectations, Dr de Marco added.

MTA CEO Josef Formosa Gauci said, "Merħba was aimed to improve the service culture and stimulate participants to offer value added service. This year alone 46 Merħba programmes were held in Malta and Gozo, with another 33 between 2006 and 2007. A total of 1,327 participants attended.

"The development of these participants will result in a better product offer for tourists and locals alike," Mr Formosa said.

Superintendent Sharon Tanti said, "The Malta Police Force is committed to assist group leaders in the best way possible to minimise the trauma of having been subject to a crime. People's co-operation is imperative in achieving this goal. Respect towards local authority is a good start, because it lays the foundation for a healthy relationship between the police and the public.

Karl Grech, MTA project manager, said the success of this programme is partly due to the support and encouragement of a number of public and private entities, including trade associations that encouraged participants to attend. Many positive comments were received throughout the training process.

The conference was also addressed by Gill Heighington, training manager, Tourism South East, UK, who provided guidelines on best practice in transport-related service provision in the UK, and spoke about how the programme was developed for Malta.

Other speakers included FELTOM president Andrew Mangion, Alexandra Abela, segment head at MTA and Morgan Parnis, head of training and development at Misco.

The Tourism and Support Services Training Programme was co-funded by the EU from the 2004/2006 Structural Funds. The programme aims to provide for a holistic approach towards training and HR development in tourism and tourism-support services.

Merħba is split into five key activities, including train-the-trainer, benchmarking improvement of standards and working practices, tourism awareness and customer care training, management and mentoring support for small and independent businesses as well as a study on lifelong learning for the tourism sector.

Each programme included a three-hour professional guided tour to various heritage sites and tourist attractions. The aim is to provide an opportunity for participants to know more about the Malta product, valuable knowledge that they can pass on to tourists during their work.

Modules were also designed in line with the MTA's objective to encourage, develop and implement training programmes for the provision of a better service by tourism frontliners and support services.

At the end of each seminar, participants were awarded a certificate and a lapel pin with the Maltese cross to be worn on their uniform, to remind them of the three core values.

The MTA was recently awarded another EU Programme for developing leaders for change and innovation in tourism. The project is designed to enhance skills and certify those in top, middle or supervisory management positions in the tourism sector.

For more information, call the Industry HR Development Unit at the MTA on 2291 5122/3/4 or e-mail training@visitmalta.com.