Tourism in County Durham is worth an annual £97.2m - an astonishing figure that highlights just how vital the industry is to the region. There's a lot more that can be done, however, and the county's tourist professionals believe this is a figure to be capitalised upon and one that can be nurtured and persuaded to increase. The problem is, how the tourism industry can be pulled together and gain the confidence that the right people are doing the right things for the benefit of the visitor and the local community. Where do the skills come from, who decides what is required and what approach should be taken? Three years ago, Caroline Richards sat down with a blank sheet of paper and started to work it all out. The vision was a challenging one but it resulted in a public/private sector initiative that has allowed New College Durham to become a Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) in Travel & Tourism Services. "Setting The Standard is a County Durham Tourism Skills Partnership initiative," says Caroline, who is CoVE manager at the college. "We're developing innovative courses, raising the quality of teaching and raising the level of activities for learners. "We looked into sustainability, enterprise, at engaging employers and into developing partnerships - and it's been very successful. The Learning & Skills Council has confirmed through monitoring and assessment that we've achieved all our targets." Caroline quickly realised that how the tourism, leisure and hospitality courses were designed should be very much with the employer in mind. Setting The Standard has its primary aim in the creation in County Durham of the most highly-skilled tourism workforce in the country. It's a comprehensive package of improvements for all the tourism businesses in the county, delivered in a way that was never possible before. The partnership approach analyses the skills deficiencies and examines the obstacles that could prevent some businesses being internationally competitive. The emphasis is on the development of a demand-led system to respond rapidly to employer needs in skills, training, professional development, business management, networking and business competitiveness. "It's not just 'look how wonderful we are, come along and buy it'," says Caroline. "It's a different approach and very focused on engaging employers more proactively. "We need to develop specific skills training for employers and employees within County Durham's tourism industry to a level that exceeds customer expectation. Our funding comes totally from One NorthEast. through the County Durham Economic Partnership on a public/private sector basis. This particular programme involves Business Link, Connexions, JobCentre Plus and the Learning & Skills Council. Their function is to work with the employers to make sure that the training, education and qualifications are what the employers need - and we want to widen participation. "We're looking at employees who are keen on a career change and people who are on unemployment benefits and jobseekers allowance, plus those from disadvantaged backgrounds. "A series of short learning programmes can be delivered by traditional methods such as workshop sessions, or through bite-sized learning which can be done in the workplace. For example, Customer Service Going The Extra Mile is one programme that can be done totally on-line, as can the assessment. It may be remote learning but people will still have all the support, contact and guidance they need from the college." Martin Boulton, head of tourism at Durham City Council, says: "New College Durham is a pioneering learning facility. At the heart of its role is the provision of of innovative learning programmes in continuous professional development for the region's aspirant or established tourism professionals and also for those who wish to change career or who may be returning to work." Caroline and her CoVE team are proud to be dealing with the region's largest organisations, such as Hays Travel and Dawson & Sanderson. "We study their needs and ask why and how," she says. "We develop marketing solutions and merchandising to maximise profits and maximise sales through service, plus an awareness of the law, such as regulations affecting those with disabilities. "We have had a 100pc success rate, which is outstanding. We're launching a tourism quality badging scheme - part of a national initiative. We're a quality symbol that says we have skills that are over and above normal expectations." With the launch of One NorthEast's tourism strategy and a commitment to increase the share of the UK tourist market from 4pc to 5pc - an additional 1.3 million visitors from this country and 700,000 from abroad - businesses in County Durham should be well placed to benefit from the increase in tourism spend. Going the extra mile may be hard work, but the benefits are enormous. | 
