Over 137 front line employees from Malta International Airport and Air Malta have completed the Service Culture and Merhba training programmes organised by the Malta Tourism Authority, part of the Tourism and Support Services Training Programme part-funded by the EU from the 2004/2006 Structural Funds. The aim of these training programmes was to enhance the customer service culture with Air Malta and MIA employees, the first people that tourists come into contact with.

The ‘Service Culture’ training programme is a multimedia train-the-trainer programme aimed at nurturing a service culture to complement the tourism product. The Malta Tourism Authority also developed a training multimedia tool including a DVD feature that portrays a typical tourist’s journey from time of arrival to departure, clearly indicating the do’s and don’ts on how to approach the tourist. This tool together with an accompanying CD ROM and Handbook made up the multimedia pack that will be used as a training aid by managers of tourism-related support services to train their staff.

The “Merhba” training programme is aimed at improving customer care skills of transport operators and related support services. During the Merhba training programme the delegates were given information on how to improve communication with tourists and provide them with helpful information about Malta. In this respect participants were also taken on guided tours to various historical locations in Malta to explain the historical significance of these locations.