Award for Hillsborough TIC

Awarded by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and sector skills council, People 1st, the certificates recognise the businesses’ commitment to customer service excellence.

WorldHost is a customer service training programme that has already been used to train nearly one million people worldwide.

Originally developed in Canada and widely recognised as the global leader for visitor welcome, the training has been adapted for use in Northern Ireland by People 1st and gives frontline staff a comprehensive grounding in the principles of customer service and acting as an ambassador for their local area.

NITB, in a strategic partnership with People 1st and the Department for Employment and Learning, is rolling out WorldHost in Northern Ireland to improve the standards of customer service across the hospitality, passenger transport, leisure and tourism industry and capitalise on the opportunities in 2012 and 2013.

Ross Fothergill, NITB Director of Business Development, said, “Next year Northern Ireland will host an impressive series of events and celebrations as part of the UK City of Culture and World Police and Fire Games.

“To make the most of the additional visitor numbers and increased spend anticipated from these events, we are committed to training 8,500 front-line staff across the industry, which is the number we feel will make a difference to the perception of customer service standards in Northern Ireland and develop a long-term tourism legacy as a result.”

The NITB is promoting the WorldHost Destination Commitment to Customer Service Excellence via nine destinations throughout Northern Ireland.