As manager with responsibility for over seeing the National Trust for Scotland’s stunning new £9m visitor centre at Culloden, time spent exclusively with her management team is rare for Deirdre Smythe.So, not surprisingly, Deirdre and the six-strong management team at Culloden jumped at the chance to be together when they went through the One Hundred Thousand Welcomes Welcomes leadership programme.
One Hundred Thousad Welcomes is a national training initiative designed to equip Scotland’s tourist industry to compete in the lucrative worldwide market by offering first-class customer service.
The two day leadership programme is designed to give managers tips, tools and some great ideas for creating an amazing visitor experience and which puts their business firmly on the tourist map as a ‘must see’ destination.
Busy leaders are given the chance to step back from their day to day responsibilities and look at the bigger picture and consider their own leadership skills.
It also looks at what it takes to offer exceptional customer service. With Scotland’s tourist industry competing in an increasingly sophisticated global market, first class visitor service is what distinguishes the average tourist business from the truly successful ones.
“The One Hundre Thousand Welcomes leadership programme is inspiring,” recalls Deirdre.
“It was great for us to time out as a team to look at our own skills and managers and leaders and discovering ways together of continually improve the service we give to our visitors at Culloden.
“The National Trust for Scotland started its own internal customer care programme a few years ago and is a really important area for us.”
During the two day programme with 100k Welcomes trainer Marina Huggett, the Culloden team created their own moto – one team, our team.
“This phrase really captures one of the goals we set ourselves which is to look out for each other. Marina’s training was excellent. She inspired everyone and we all came away believing anything is possible,” said Deirdre.
Gerry McGuigan, head of skills at HIE Inverness and East Highland says: “Tourism is a very competitive sector throughout the world and it is important that everyone involved in the Highlands keeps their knowledge and customer care levels as high as possible. The number of visitors who return to this area each year proves that time spent on 100K Welcomes is a sound investment.”
