323 front line tourism employees attend service culture training in Gozo

An overwhelming 323 front line Gozitan employees working in the tourism sector have recently completed a twelve module customer care and service culture training programme as part of the Merhba Tourism Awareness and Customer Care training programme.

With the collaboration of Gozo Tourism Association the Malta Tourism Authority is organising Merhba training programmes in Gozo. The aim was to make it easier for Gozitan employees to attend such programmes, while at the same time enhance the level of customer care training in the tourism industry in Gozo.

A total of seventeen programmes were held in Gozo, 34% of the participants attending these programmes were female. The programmes started at the end of March come to an end in June with a half day conference and the Award of certificates.

The ‘Merhba’ training programme is aimed at improving customer service knowledge, ability and skills of front-line operational staff in tourism establishments and transport operators. The training part of the programme is being conducted by MISCO who was recently awarded the service contract by public tender.

Each programme comes to an end with 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 tourist offer in Gozo, knowledge which they can pass on to tourists during their work.

The Merhba Training Programme modules were designed in line with the MTA’s objective to encourage, develop and implement training programmes for the provision of a better service by tourism front liners and support services. The modules also follow an important objective of the Tourism Policy for the Maltese Islands 2007-2011, whereby a hospitable attitude can contribute towards the Maltese Islands competitive advantage.

The ‘Merhba’ Training Programme one of the activities of the Tourism and Support Services Training Programme which is co-funded by the European Social Fund and all training programmes provided were free of charge. Tourism and Support Services Training Programme (ESF 7) aims to provide for a holistic approach towards training and human resource development in tourism and tourism-support services. By the end of the project the MTA would have targeted over 1,700 front-liners in the tourism sector.