Training boost for tourism sector

What do you do when you win R30,000? Put it back into the community is what Sunshine Coast Tourism’s management decided to do after winning first prize for the most successful tourism organisation in the Sarah Baartman District at a recent event.

Deciding to use the prize money to help boost the business community, Sunshine Coast Tourism approached Stenden SA to assist with providing a service excellence training course.

Stenden SA’s comprehensive, certified course saw eight lecturers assisting businesses to upskill their employees through different elements.

How to handle customer complaints, personal grooming and professional leadership were some of the skills that seasonal staff in the Sunshine Coast’s business and tourism sector learnt during the three-day course at Stenden SA recently.

The course, a collaboration between Stenden SA and Sunshine Coast Tourism, was aimed at preparing seasonal staff for the upcoming holiday season.

“It was aimed at getting seasonal staff, casual workers, as well as staff at local businesses up to speed quickly,” said Stenden SA executive dean Wouter Hensen.

Stenden has run the course every year at this time, except when it was unable to during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

“We were keen to bring back the course and we were able to do it for just R250 a head, including lunches for three days,” Hensen said.

The course was subsidised by Sunshine Coast Tourism, which used the R30,000 prize money to reduce the cost for the course’s 54 participants.

Tourism and business consultant at

Sunshine Coast

Tourism’s

Kenton office, Jo

Wilmot, said the participants had enjoyed the course and found it beneficial.

“The upskilling training course has been run before, but this prize money meant suddenly it was affordable for everyone,” she said.

The 54 participants represented 12 different businesses from the Sunshine Coast region, including hotels, restaurants and coffee shops.

“It was amazing for us to be able to put back into local businesses in a way that will give visitors to the Sunshine Coast an even better experience,” Wilmot said.

The course was a collaboration between Stenden and Sunshine Coast Tourism to prepare seasonal staff for the upcoming holiday season

The 54 participants represented 12 local businesses including hotels, restaurants and coffee shops and the skills they were taught included how to handle complaints, professional grooming and leadership