SCONE PALACE has become the first organisation in Perth to be honoured for its commitment to customer service by being awarded WorldHost Recognised Business Status, a globally-recognised customer service training programme.
Perth & Kinross Council are supporting the prestigious training scheme and working with Skills Development Scotland to offer funding to local SME businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector who wish to join the elite organisations who have achieved WorldHost Recognised Business Status.
Says a spokesperson: “WorldHost is a world-class customer service training programme that has already been used to train nearly over 150,000 people in the UK, including tens of thousands of staff and volunteers for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and, more recently 3,000 ScotRail staff in preparation for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
“WorldHost Recognised Business status is awarded to businesses that have trained 50 per cent or more of their front line staff using any of the WorldHost training programmes and signed a commitment to delivering exemplary customer service.”
With over half of its customer-facing staff trained to WorldHost standards, Scone Palace has officially joined the elite list of organisations that offer exceptional customer service and become a WorldHost Recognised Business.
This achievement for the customer service team marks an exciting period for the crowning place of The Kings of Scots after recently receiving the Rural Tourism Award, a top accolade for tourism at the Countryside Alliance Awards, demonstrating the historic palace’s commitment to offering its tens of thousands of annual visitors an unforgettable experience.
On receiving the recognition, Sarah Butler, chief executive for Scone Palace, commented: “Offering outstanding customer service is at the very heart of what we do and giving visitors a warm welcome and an unforgettable experience is integral to our continuing success as one of Scotland’s most popular visitor attractions.
“We are incredibly proud that so many of our staff have completed WorldHost training and to be awarded WorldHost Recognised Business Status is a fantastic achievement for our customer-facing teams.
“I am sure that the training will enable our team to offer an even more exceptional experience to visitors coming to enjoy everything the palace and grounds have to offer.”
Suzanne Cumiskey, chair of the Perth WorldHost Steering Group and Business Development projects officer at Perth & Kinross Council, said:
“Thousands of international visitors who travelled to Perthshire for the 2014 Ryder Cup can testify that our businesses have world class customer service skills which can compete on a global platform.
“In particular, Scone Palace has seen a surge of visitors from the USA inspired by the Hollywood blockbuster, Belle. The movie seems to really have captured the imagination of the American market.
“This year we expect that there will be even more interest in the area because of the attention received from last year’s events.
“We are delighted to be able to help local businesses make the most of that interest by achieving WorldHost Recognised Business Status. I would encourage any local companies looking to complete the training programme to get in touch.”
Suzanne continued:
“I would like to offer my congratulations to Scone Palace for completing the training scheme.
“Scone Palace is one of our most beautiful and loved historic visitor attractions. It is fantastic to see the team there join the growing group of local organisations who have embraced the opportunity to further enhance their customer service offering through WorldHost training.”
To find out more about Scone Palace, visit www.scone-palace.co.uk
ENDS
For more information about Scone Palace please contact Anna Gunn on 01738 700135 or a.gunn@volpa.co.uk
For more information about upcoming WorldHost training sessions visit http://scotland.worldhost.co.uk/regions/perth
IMAGE DETAILS
Members of the Scone Palace customer service team completing WorldHost Training with Isla Kinnear from Perth College, UHI (in purple jacket in front row) and Sarah Butler, Chief Executive for Scone Palace (navy blue cardigan in front row).
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