The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has started rolling out an aggressive service excellence training programme, in line with the country’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
ZTA head of corporate affairs Mr Godfrey Koti says the programme kicked off in March with the training of ten provincial tourism officers from the Ministry of Environment Climate Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
“The training was undertaken with emphasis mainly on good ambassadorship for destination Zimbabwe, handling guests, receiving, welcoming guests, handling guests’ complaints, creating guest memorable experiences, how to increase up-selling skills, cutlery handling, utensils cleaning, food production and service, grooming and deportment among others,” he said.
Mr Koti added that the training had been extended to ZTA’s front line staff and will be rolled out to all of the Authority’s staff in the future.
“It is our duty to ensure that tourism operators are well trained on the importance of efficient service provision.
“We are here to assist tourism players, in this case our employees need to understand the importance of service excellence. Our executive at the ZTA continues to underscore the need to for our staff to prioritise this,” he said.
The training is set to be rolled out to front line staff from hotels, lodges, guest houses.
The country’s tourism Authority is also expected to take the programme to fellow parastatals and state enterprises such as the Immigration Department, the Airport Company of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, National Handling Services, and the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority.
This is aimed at improving service delivery within the entire hospitality industry and other supporting organisations in handling and dealing with clients in tourism industry in Zimbabwe.
