Access to Accessibility!

‘Welcome All’ visitors to Kent

Tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses across Kent attended a unique ‘Welcome All’ training course on September 28 in preparation for the 2012 Games.

Visit Kent hosted the training day, which aimed to provide practical advice on how to deliver services to customers with special needs. The event formed part of Visit Kent’s drive to improve the county’s accessibility and customer service ahead of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The training courses were organised in partnership with Tourism South East. Kerstin Beeching, of Visit Kent, said: “2012 will be our opportunity to showcase Kent to visitors from across the UK and around the world. Many businesses are really keen to ensure they offer all customers accessibility and high quality service. And now is the time to start planning and preparing.

“Our Welcome All training takes a practical and highly realistic approach which demonstrates that increasing accessibility to attract a wider range of customers is not difficult and can help businesses improve their profitability.”

Kent and Medway tourism business can now also enjoy the benefits of NAS standards and promotions for three years at a cost of less than £22 per year! Thanks to Tourism South East, businesses can now take advantage of a discount of more than £123 when becoming part of The National Accessible Scheme (NAS).

For further information about the ‘Welcome All’ training course or the National Accessible Scheme, please visit www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk.

Taxi! The Journey toward Kent’s Welcome in 2012

Taxi divers in Margate were also lucky enough to attend a FREE training course on Tuesday 28th September, as part of the Celebrating Kent campaign.

The campaign aims to maximize the benefits and build a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games, in this case helping the tourism industry to welcome visitors in 2012 and beyond. Taxi-drivers can be very effective ambassadors as they are often the first point of contact for visitors.

The two day ‘Welcome Host’ course set out to help taxi-drivers understand the importance of customer care and update them with various regeneration and development projects taking place in Margate. Those who took part received a special certificate on completion of the programme, and a sticker to display in their vehicles.

Frontline professionals in the leisure, tourism and hospitality industry across the county are being encouraged to attend a series of bespoke Visit Kent training courses in readiness to welcome an expected influx of visitors during the 2012 London Games.

Fran Warrington, head of Visit Kent at Kent County Council, said: “Our taxi drivers are incredibly important. They are often responsible for the first impressions visitors gain of our county. And, of course, visitors rely on their drivers’ local knowledge and expertise when it comes to choosing attractions to visit and good restaurants and pubs for an evening out.”

For more information on future training course hosted by Visit Kent, follow this link to 'Visit Kent Business Training pages'. Alternatively check out the Kent 2012 event timeline to see what’s happing in your area!