Glasgow’s tourism and hospitality businesses are being encouraged to participate in a new industry-led initiative recognising customer service excellence across the city.
The Glasgow Welcomes Business Recognition Programme will reward city businesses, large and small, which consistently go the extra mile to improve Glasgow’s visitor experience.
The programme is open to Glasgow businesses of any size which engage directly with tourists and visitors to the city – from accommodation providers, venues and visitor attractions to bars and restaurants, retailers and transport operators.
With six weeks until the entry deadline on Thursday, March 28th, there’s still plenty of time for businesses to apply to the scheme.
Customer service excellence is a priority within Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023 – the blueprint for continuing to build the city’s global profile as a vibrant, must-visit tourist destination.
Growing overnight tourism visits from two to three million annually and positioning Glasgow as a cultural powerhouse and the gateway to Scotland is at the heart of the plan, which aims to deliver an economic boost of £771m and create 6,600 new jobs in the city over the next five years.
Businesses can submit more than one project or initiative for recognition through the programme, but it must have been implemented in the past 12 months and demonstrate tangible success. Businesses must also meet certain eligibility criteria, including having participated in Glasgow Welcomes leadership or service excellence training and events.
The first crop of businesses to be recognised through the programme will be announced at Glasgow Welcomes’ next Champions’ networking event, taking place in the spring.
Craig Martin, Chair of Glasgow Welcomes and Head of HR at Glasgow Airport, said: “Glasgow is a vibrant, welcoming and culturally rich city with a reputation for world-class customer service. Every day, businesses across our tourism and hospitality sectors are delivering exceptional and memorable customer experiences and we want to celebrate that.
“Our new business recognition programme provides a platform for businesses across the city’s visitor economy to share best practice with their peers, which will hopefully inspire others to develop their own projects and people. With six weeks until applications close, I hope businesses with great stories to tell, or who are delivering initiatives that have real impact and scalability for our industry, will get involved.”
For more information about the Glasgow Welcomes Business Recognition Programme, click here. For more information about Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023, click here.
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About Glasgow Welcomes
Glasgow Welcomes is an integral element of the city’s tourism plan; working in partnership with tourism and hospitality businesses to help grow their bottom line and raise service standards across every touch point of the city’s visitor experience.
With a focus on service excellence, leadership, skills, and training and development opportunities for staff at all levels – from frontline teams to senior hospitality managers and leaders – it is a unique industry-led initiative supported by principal funders Scottish Enterprise along with Glasgow Life, VisitScotland and Skills Development Scotland.
Held quarterly, Glasgow Welcomes Champions’ events provide a valuable development opportunity for Glasgow’s tourism industry leaders: encouraging engagement and collaboration between businesses, building relationships, and sharing ideas and best practice across every aspect of the sector in support of the city’s tourism plan.
For more information about Glasgow Welcomes, click hereand follow @GlasgowWelcomeson Twitter.
For more information, contact:
Stella Callaghan
Project Manager
Glasgow Welcomes
+44 (0) 141 566 4031 / +44 (0) 7917 598 610
