BAA Heathrow’s Retail Academy, in association with the JGA Group, is launching a series of Mandarin lessons in November for Heathrow and local hotel staff, to provide great service to the increasing number of Chinese passengers passing through the airport.
World GDP growth is fastest in emerging economies such as China, and the number of flights to China has increased dramatically in the last ten years. Heathrow offers the UK’s only direct air links to the country.
Says Adele Nixon, Retail Academy Co-ordinator:
"Our research showed that if customer facing staff are able to converse with passengers in their own language, even with only a few words, foreign passengers will feel far more welcomed at Heathrow."
Mandarin was chosen as the most popular language for customer service staff to learn, following a successful language event held recently at Heathrow. Staff who join the Retail Academy Mandarin programme will learn key words and phrases, useful cultural tips and handy hints on meeting the expectations of their Mandarin-speaking customers.
Those joining the programme do not need any prior knowledge of Mandarin. The course content is specially tailored to the requirements of airport, retail and hospitality staff and all those attending will receive a booklet to keep with them, and remind them of key words and phrases when they are dealing with customers.
The course will consist of three short training sessions each lasting three hours, starting at either 09.00 or 13.00 on 6, 12 and 20 November. Delegates must be able to commit to and attend all three dates. The
sessions will take place at the Heathrow Academy on the A4 Bath Road.
Karima Sakhi, Academy Manager says:
"This is a very short programme which will pay dividends for the companies who sponsor their staff to attend. Already we have bookings from companies such as Mulberry, Yo Sushi, Geronimo and Reach and places are going fast."
To book places for yourself or your staff, contact Adele Nixon at the Heathrow Academy on 07920846794 before October 31.
Notes to editors
- The course costs £65 plus VAT per delegate for all three sessions. There are up to 35 places available for this course and will be on a first come first serve basis. Payment will be required up-front in order to secure a place.
- BAA’s training provisions were inspected by Ofsted in November 2007, which awarded a “good” rating. BAA were also a runner-up in the Learning and Skills Council’s national apprenticeship employer of the year awards.
- The training programmes BAA manages or support helped 229 people gain new qualifications in 2007.
