Northern Forest Tourism Network
Collaborating to Create a World Class Destination – Join Us!Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative
By Mike Wilson, Northern Forest Center and Maine Woods Consortium Tourism Committee
“Customer Service: Upselling Your Way to a Happier Customer” was the theme of a successful frontline tourism employee training provided on June 9th at the University of Maine in Farmington – part of a series of workshops organized through the Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative (MWTTI).
The session provided 17 workers with skills needed to increase business success by upselling new products and additional services to customers. Led by Greg Gould, Maine Small Business Development Center Director at the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, the workshop clearly made an impact on participants, one of whom left with this simple comment: “Make the time slot longer, he obviously knows his stuff. Fantastic!”
The MWTTI is designed to develop county-level networks of existing tourism training providers to meet educational needs identified by Maine Woods tourism businesses. Over the past year, emerging networks in Washington, Piscataquis and Franklin counties conducted county-level assessments to determine business training priorities and delivery options. Between April and June these networks organized a total of 10 trainings on topics ranging from service excellence to marketing. Training partners included: business development organizations, community colleges, the University of Maine, chambers of commerce, and workforce investment boards.
Building on a successful pilot year, the MWTTI will expand in 2010-11 to serve three additional Maine Woods counties – Aroostook, Oxford and Penobscot – and to deliver at least 18 additional training opportunities to tourism businesses in the Maine Woods. The program will also engage state-level training providers to explore the long-term sustainability of network-based tourism training efforts.
MWTTI is a part of the Maine Woods Consortium’s work to improve the overall quality of regional tourism products and increase the number of livable wage jobs in the tourism sector. Program expansion is being supported by ongoing support from the Betterment Fund and a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant secured by the Northern Forest Center on behalf of the Maine Woods Consortium.
