Explore Group engages ITC for staff training
Some of the Explore employees at ITC’s City Campus. Explore Auckland General Manager Alyson Curran says ITC was the “obvious choice” for staff training.
Late last year, the International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) delivered a workshop for Explore Group to help prepare Explore’s staff for what might be the busiest summer on record.
With 22 years of tourism training experience, ITC is passionate about delivering training to students and tourism businesses. All of ITC’s staff are qualified trainers with practical tourism experience.
“Before our tutors became teachers, they were tourism professionals. They worked in airline, travel, and tourism, and have first-hand experience of the unique skills required to thrive in this growing industry,” says Claire Huxley, ITC Marketing Director.
“From customer service skills to management training, we have the breadth of experience to provide all types of training to established tourism businesses,” adds Claire.
Explore Auckland General Manager, Alyson Curran, says ITC was the “obvious choice” for staff training. She engaged ITC to deliver two workshops; one in Paihia and one in Auckland.
“Explore has had a great relationship with ITC for many years, so it was an obvious choice to approach them when we initially started looking at options for service training,” says Alyson.
“ITC was able to tailor a day course that met our current business and training requirements. I’ve had some great feedback, our crew loved it, and I’ve noticed an immediate improvement in the service delivery and general morale since the workshops.”
In a fun and interactive day, ITC delivered a workshop that focused on:
- Making the best first impression
- Fine-tuning customer service skills
- Communication
- Cultural awareness
- Sales training
The adventure began with a ‘mystery shop’ prior to the training day. ITC Marketing and Schools Leader, Mel Jenkins, took her family on Explore’s Bay of Islands ‘Discover the Bay’ cruise. This meant Mel could show the team the positive and honest feedback from her four children, which served as a great way to begin the training.
Some of the Explore employees have been in the industry for many years; the training day catered for all types of roles and experience.
Here is some of the feedback ITC received from those who attended the workshop:
“It was a good little refresher and I did catch things that were new to me.”
“It was so helpful to learn about diversity with our customers as we see so many cultures on a daily basis.”
“I’ve learnt how much guests or customers do watch what we do.”
“It’s incredible that I only have 7 seconds for a first impression.”
“I really didn’t realise what impact I truly had on my customer until I heard the stories shared with our team.”
ITC encouraged the employees to share the positive impact they have had on their customers. Mel says that she was honoured to work with the Explore team.
“Hearing these stories and experiencing the Explore product made me so proud of our tourism industry. Explore employees do a fantastic job of delivering a high standard of product to our visitors – both local and international,” says Mel.
“I wanted to make each workshop a positive experience, and I was also inspired by all those who attended,” she adds.
ITC is available to deliver a select number of staff training workshops in 2018; please email claireh@itc.co.nz to register your interest.
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