New funds to support north tourism have been released to thousands of small businesses.
The investment, provided by Skills Development Scotland, has been hailed as a “gamechanger” for business in the north.
The funding is worth £180,000 in the next 12 months and has been made available through the WorldHost Regional Destination Initiative – a national campaign being spearheaded by skills and workforce development charity People 1st.
Highland MSP Fergus Ewing, minister for energy, enterprise and tourism, announced the funding at an event held at Achnagairn House near Inverness to celebrate the initiative’s success to date.
He said: “2014 has been a hugely successful year for Scottish tourism, with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Scottish Homecoming all shining the global spotlight on our fantastic country and providing a massive boost to our tourism economy.
“We need to make sure that we fully capitalise on the long term benefits these events will bring, and build a strong, consistent and high quality visitor experience that visitors will remember, and which will keep them returning to Scotland for many years to come.
The funding will be open to all businesses who have trained staff through the WorldHost scheme.
David Allen, director of Scotland for People 1st, said: “Customer service is still a major issue for tourism businesses across Scotland.
“Our research tells us that 65% of hospitality and tourism businesses in Scotland feel that customer service skills need improving in their workforce.
“That’s why we brought the WorldHost programmes to Scotland. Businesses that have already undertaken the training have noticed the difference it makes, from improved sales to increased staff motivation through to positive feedback from customers and higher repeat customer levels.”
Among the guests at the reception at Achnagairn yesterday was a delegation from the Armenian ministry of economy who are on a fact-finding mission in Scotland,
Head of tourism Mekhak Apresyan said: “We have been very impressed with the Highlands. There’s a lot of variety and the people are very approachable, similar to Armenia in many ways.”