Virgin and Gleneagles Hotel support customer service focused scholarships
The courses follow warnings that poor staff soft skills could create an industry crisis by 2020, with over 61,000 UK hospitality employees predicted to exhibit 'sub-optimal performance' due to a lack of skills such as communication.
Scholarships are available to individuals working within or studying towards a career in Scottish hospitality, and offer recipients the chance to improve their skills and progress within the industry.
Virgin and Gleneagles have created a new Customer Services Masterclass giving students the chance to learn key skills while experiencing the best of hospitality service.
The four-day Capital Gains Scholarships will provide recipients with practical tools for implementing five star customer service in a hospitality setting.
Individuals will also have the chance to visit hotels and meet with general managers in Goa as part of the new Global Scholarship.
HIT chief executive David Cochrane said: “HIT strives to make Scotland the best hospitality industry in the world and we know this can be achieved through our once in a lifetime training opportunities and experiences that provide scholars with the opportunity to learn locally, nationally and internationally.
“I am hugely proud to be part of a sector that contributes so much to Scotland, and I know that these scholarships will help to shape the future of the Scottish hospitality industry.”
HIT Scotland has awarded over 1,000 emerging talent scholarships and 10,000 bursaries since it launched in 1994.
It offers opportunities including the Disney Scholarship and Green Tourism Scholarship.
Applications for the 2016 scholarship programme will be accepted from 1 October until 27 November, followed by evaluations and interviews. The Scholarship Awards Presentation will take place in Glasgow on 4 February 2016.
