Located in the Coventry Travelodge, the academy, which is the first of its kind in this country, was set up by the National Skills Academy for Hospitality, providing a stimulating training environment with interactive technology and seminar spaces.
Due to the rapid growth of the hospitality sector in general and, in particular, budget hotels, the skills academy will help to develop the customer service and management skills in the hospitality industry to create a world-class workforce, delivering the skills that employers need. Travelodge believes such training centres are key to developing standards of excellence that are needed across the industry.
In order to provide a home for the academy, the hotel’s previously vacant meeting rooms have been refurbished with training equipment, new furniture and all of the rooms have been re-decorated. This academy will be open seven days a week for companies to hire and the training centre also hosts a customer service course each week.
Travelodge’s CEO, Guy Parsons, sits on the board of the National Skills Academy for Hospitality and believes that focusing on the development of people and skills is fundamental to the future success of the hospitality industry.
He said: "Our people are at the heart of our business and having a high standard of customer service is vital to our competitive advantage as a growing business. Training in customer service excellence is key for hotel operators like Travelodge as it promotes loyalty among the nine million customers we get each year. I believe the hospitality industry will benefit tremendously from skills academies, ensuring our industry is ready to serve the influx of customers the UK will see during and after the 2012 Olympic Games."
David McHattie, chief executive, National Skills Academy, added: "This is a great example of a big business supporting the industry and smaller businesses. This innovative training centre allows us to make the inspirational training solutions we identify more accessible and at the best value. In challenging economic times both companies and individuals need to stand out from the crowd and the generosity of Travelodge means that more people will have access to the best development programmes that help build careers and businesses."
