A total of 29 students, aged 18-22, from 14 different South Korean universities and colleges took the one-day customer service training course as part of their eight-week placement with Bournville College in Birmingham.

Their vocational learning-based visit covered a wide-range of activities including visits to cultural venues and formal learning such as advanced English language skills.

Alan Sampson, deputy director of International Operations at Bournville College, said: “Welcome Host Gold fitted the bill perfectly. It covers core skills, the latest techniques and, vitally, practical learning which the students can take back to South Korea and use in their future working lives.”

Sue Gill, Welcome to Excellence national lead and Head of Training and Skills at Tourism South East, pointed out how beneficial it is for the South Korean undergraduates who study tourism, industrial and business management degrees back home, to have some customer service skills.

“Delivering great customer service is a global ambition for all countries’ tourism sectors, and in their wider economy,” she said.

“Bournville College is giving students skills and knowledge that are highly transferable and valuable throughout their careers.”

Sampson added that they had a highly positive feedback from the students in regards to the Welcome Host Gold training course.

“Welcome Host Gold is a highly transferable course as the goals and skills needed to provide world-class customer service are common to all countries,” he said.

“It is practical and adaptable, and we will look to incorporate it into further tourism and business courses and offer flexibly to suit students’ needs as we have done with the group from South Korea.”

Apostolos Kostoulas