Online hospitality training videos to up-skill SA’s tourism sector

The Tourism Grading Council of South African (TGCSA) and the International Hotel School (IHS) have partnered with Summit to offer videos to up-skill hospitality at establishments. 

There are a series of online training videos which are geared towards improving the service offered in the hospitality sector. Employees at graded establishments will have access to these resources, which will result in the industry being up-skilled. 

These videos are divided into four training programmes. These have been identified as important for accommodation establishments. 

These hospitality videos have been uploaded on the TGCSA YouTube channel and can be accessed below:

Front Desk Operations

Guest Room Attendants

Housekeeping and Cleaning Guest Room

Restaurant Service

This ensures that all of the main elements of providing accommodation to guests are addressed in these videos. It sees a holistic approach to improving the hospitality experience, from the moment a guest walks in to a property, the their experience there and the kind of service received when making use of on-site restaurants. These videos are applicable to a range of establishments, regardless of their current grading. 

This online training is a result of graded establishments requesting training. This was communicated during the tourism monthly establishment survey and other engagements. The majority of graded establishment are small, family operated and lack formal hospitality training.

“TGCSA has noticed that some of the smaller establishment lack basic training and in order for them to attain their grading they need to meet basic grading requirements. Once graded, it’s important to ensure that they maintain the quality standards, which is why continued training is important. This training intervention is a value add for graded establishment as well as to assist establishments maintain their grading and achieve higher grading levels,” says Darryl Erasmus, Chief Quality Assurance Officer. 

These four hospitality training videos are accompanied by a toolkit that graded establishments can utilise once they have completed the training. After grading approval, properties will receive a post assessment confirmation. This will ensure that all newly graded establishment will have access to videos.

Summit training, part of the Invictus Education Group, is one of South Africa’s leading private education and training institutions. Summit focuses on staff training across the broader business industries in South Africa, providing reputable training programmes. This includes food services, gaming and hospitality.

“We are excited to partner with TGCSA to provide online training videos to help up-skill employees within graded establishments – as part of our innovative support to up-skill the industry.  For our country to achieve high levels of economic growth and address our social challenges, we must work together in order to invest in education and training” says Matthew Lambert, MD of Summit.

This partnership involves three leading bodies in tourism. By working together, this can create a course of training for employees in the hospitality sector which will provide a standardised service level across the board.

It will also ensure that employees are able to improve their work and levels of service, which not only benefits the establishments and tourism sector as a whole, but also furthers their careers with the opportunity to improve – and with training that will be recognised by several establishments around the country. 

This partnership endeavours to improve the hospitality experience by up-skilling workers which will result in a range of benefits across the board. These four videos are the first series set to improve the standards in service and skill, fulfilling a need which was voiced by tourism establishments.