THE Bermuda Alliance for Tourism (BAT), in conjunction with the Visitor Industry Partnership and the Bermuda College, announced this week that the Bermuda SuperHost programme has been successfully introduced into the island.

"The aim of the SuperHost programme is to implement, within Bermuda, a system that will allow all of us to increase the level of customer service," said BAT executive director Wayne Smith.

The programme is aimed towards local employees and owner/operators in tourism and tourism-related businesses, but the programme also helps those not directly involved in the hospitality industry.

"We will be starting with the hospitality industry, and that will undoubtedly be the focus, those who work in it. We need people who work in banks, accountants, law firms, reporters, truck drivers, to take this course, so that when they speak to visitors, they will be singing the same song that everybody who works in the industry is singing, so that when we give recommendations, we all provide a high level of customer service," Mr. Smith said.

"(The programme) covers everything, from professional telephone techniques, to effective communication, the value of tourism. It's a tremendous programme, and the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism is delighted to be able to bring it to the country." The SuperHost programme was developed in 1985 by Tourism British Columbia, in preparation for the 1986 World Exposition, as a way to improve the quality of service in the tourism industry throughout that Canadian province.

The programme became so successful that Tourism British Columbia developed an administration system to offer SuperHost training throughout the province and it was later adapted as the industry standard for customer service in that province.

It is now recognised by the service industry internationally as the standard for employee training and recruitment. Now, more than 800,000 people have completed one of the SuperHost workshops that are offered world-wide.

The philosophy of the SuperHost training is based on a commitment to excellent customer service standards and the belief that all participants play a role in enhancing the travel experience for visitors such that they are motivated to return.

The fundamental objective of the programme is to provide participants with an understanding of the importance of excellent customer service skills; to help increase the effectiveness and efficiency of communication with customers; to help participants demonstrate their attentiveness to customer needs; and to provide the programme participants with an understanding of the social and economic contribution that a healthy tourism industry makes to Bermuda.

"We have identified SuperHost as the programme that we would like to use, we're going to tailor it for Bermuda, give it a Bermudian look, feel, flavour, and taste," Mr. Smith said of the integration of the programme into Bermudian society.

"We have just completed training the trainers, we now have about 12 trainers who are certified to go out into the community and teach people in the SuperHost system, the Bermuda SuperHost system of customer service," Mr. Smith, who is one of the trainers, said.

"Ms Jenni Hopkyns, Training Services Manager, Tourism British Columbia, has just completed an intensive, comprehensive, three-day 'train the trainers' seminar, with a number of Bermudian and Bermuda-based individuals, who will now be able to go out into the community and deliver the Bermuda SuperHost training.

"The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, the Bermuda Department of Tourism, and the Bermuda Hotel Association have endorsed the Bermuda SuperHost programme and have made a commitment to implementing the programme and their respective workplaces," he added.

Questions may be directed to Wayne Smith, executive director of BAT, at 292-1228. To register, contact Dr. Eugenie Simmons, of Bermuda College, at 236-9000.