What's the name of the statue in the middle of George Square?
Which five eateries will you find in Royal Exchange Square? And
what's the name of the designer of the world famous Willow Tearooms
on Sauchiehall Street?
These are all questions included in a new city centre skills
challenge, The Glasgow Trail, as part of a new campaign to target
the city's 16 year-olds and attract them to work in Glasgow's
tourism industry.
The Glasgow Trail has been developed by 'Glasgow Service with
Style', the Glasgow Tourism Service Initiative, in partnership with
the Springboard Charitable Trust and with funding from Skills
Development Scotland (SDS).
Taking place over September 28 and 29, the first Trail brought
together hundreds of S5 pupils to take part in a three-hour
competitive skills challenge hosted in different city venues.
The Glasgow Trail booklet, which includes 99 city attractions,
encouraged teenagers to compete in teams, following a route around
the city centre to test their knowledge of the tourism product.
The youngsters visited the Gallery of Modern Art where
they took part in a sculpture challenge, and the Radisson blu
Hotel where they laid a banqueting table.
The third stop was The Lighthouse, where they learned about
working in this key attraction and also heard the story of its
world famous architect/designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
In its first year Glasgow Service with Style was made an
official Legacy Project for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a year
on, more than 10,000 people are being trained under the newly
developed Glasgow Welcomes customer service training programme,
which will enable the city's workforce to deliver consistent,
outstanding customer service across all points of the visitor
experience.
Lawrence Durden, Tourism Manager at SDS, said:
"We're delighted to be supporting The Glasgow Trail, which will
not only help school pupils get a sense of how big an employer
Glasgow tourism is but also the many different jobs in the
sector. It's a fun and engaging idea that we're sure will
capture the imagination of pupils, teachers and parents alike."
Enterprise and Tourism Minster Fergus Ewing commented:
"Tourism makes a substantial contribution to our economy and is
one of the Scottish Government's key growth sectors. The Glasgow
Trail is an innovative way of encouraging young people to consider
a career in this diverse and growing industry."
The Glasgow Trail is the result of a successful partnership of
Glasgow Service with Style with partners Skills Development
Scotland (principal funders of the event), Springboard, Glasgow
City Council's Education Department, Scottish Enterprise and
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.
A special Awards Evening hosted by GCC Education Department will
be held on November 2 at the City Chambers, where parents, teachers
and guests will celebrate the pupils' success on the Trail.