Hospitality and social media skills boost for NSW visitor economy

Friday, August 20, 2021

The NSW Government has partnered with Restaurant & Catering Australia and social media giant Facebook to deliver a suite of free, new skills development and training programs designed for individuals and businesses engaged in the State’s visitor economy 

The programmes, delivered by Destination NSW, will be offered to individuals and businesses wishing to upgrade their customer service skills and enhance their social media capability. 

Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said this support was needed to help address the current skills shortage across NSW and ensure business operators had the social media know-how to stand out in a crowded digital marketplace. 

“We know that access to skilled workers is one of the greatest challenges facing tourism and hospitality businesses in NSW right now,” Mr Ayres said. 

“Equally, using social media to engage and inspire potential customers through rich storytelling has never been a more important part of a businesses’ marketing and promotional mix. 

“The NSW Government is committed to supporting business owners and workers to develop the skills they need to be successful and to help grow the visitor economy.” 

The hospitality training modules and registrations for the social media webinars both commence in mid-August. The programs, part of Destination NSW’s NSW First industry development program, involve: 

• 1,400 micro credentials available to tourism and hospitality staff across three modules: Managing customer expectations in terms of COVID-safe practices, emotional awareness in customer service, and an introduction to customer service (delivered in partnership with Restaurant and Catering Australia) 
• Five webinars about Facebook and Instagram for Tourism to help optimise a business’s Facebook presence; engage audiences on social media; create Instagram stories; capture social content on a smartphone; and inspire action on Instagram (delivered in partnership with Facebook, which also owns Instagram) 

“Destination NSW’s industry development program, NSW First, is tailored to the unique needs of businesses engaged in the visitor economy through leveraging industry insights and partnerships for the benefit of operators,” Mr Ayres said. 

“In addition to the NSW and Commonwealth Government’s $5.1 billion-plus COVID-19 support package, these free NSW First initiatives will provide business owners with practical support to that is relevant to their industry, so they are ready to ramp up again when travel restrictions are lifted.” 

Restaurant & Catering Australia CEO Wes Lambert said the partnership aimed to ensure the broader hospitality sector had access to the skills and workers it needed to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic 

“For so many businesses, being able to find the staff they need will be the difference between survival and closure,” Mr Lambert said. 

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