.@S_ERC ’s Tourism Ambassadors Up-Skill

Enthusiastic students from South Eastern Regional College (SERC) have successfully completed the highly regarded WorldHost Ambassador workshop and been awarded WorldHost customer service awards.

The Ambassador workshop is an initiative developed and coordinated by SERC lecturer Paul Barr involving students from travel and tourism, hospitality and catering and tourism, hospitality and events foundation degree. Its aim is to help enhance and improve the “Bangor Experience” for both residents and inbound tourists attending major events in the area, while at the same time providing invaluable work experience directly related to the students’ area of study.

The Tourism Ambassadors initiative provides the students with an excellent opportunity to work with local stakeholders in this sector and get hands-on experience of real life events of this scale.

After completing their World Host Customer Service training with the local council, students have taken part in the Ards Puppet Festival which took place over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Students will also be heading to the annual Sea Bangor festival on the 9 and 10 June, which is expected to bring in around 50,000 visitors to the town.

The students will be strategically placed around the town to offer advice and information about the events, along with “goodie bags” maps and general information about the area.

Geoff Thompson, Head of Bangor Chamber of Commerce stated,

“We are delighted to be working with these young students. They are helping the Chamber and the town achieve its objectives of promoting business in the local area while at the same time enhancing their own employability skills. I hope that we can continue to develop this programme.”