Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has extended the deadline for registration for its upcoming training programmes.
Registration was open till Saturday for a one-day programme on Telephone Etiquette and Customer Service, which would be held on May 12, and another one-day technical training programme on Social Media Marketing, which would be held the following day.
MATATO said Sunday that the deadline has now been extended for Wednesday.
Registration (form available here) for both the programmes, which would be held in capital Male in partnership with Sri Lanka’s leading corporate training institute McQuire Rens & Jones, costs USD150 for MATATO members, USD170 for non-members and USD100 for students. Groups of three are entitled to a five percent discount, while groups of five or more will receive a 7.5 percent discount and groups of 10 or more a 10 percent discount.
Contents of the Telephone Etiquette and Customer Service programme:
- Important role of representing the organisation by the person answering the phone
- Role of emotional intelligence in answering the phone
- Not getting ‘lost’ in your equipment
- Answering the call to make a positive impression
- Dos and don’ts in answering calls
- Taking down messages
- The empowered telephone operator
- Doing the basics better: greetings, holds, transfers, returning calls and voicemail
- Customer service as an attitude and as not a department
- Focusing and prioritising the top expectations of customers
- Personal styles of customers
- Listening skills
- Standing out from the competition
- Keeping customers calm with words
- Dealing with angry customers
Contents of the Social Media Marketing programme:
- Best tools, tips and tricks to efficiently and effectively implement a social media campaign
- Strategies for success to start and leverage your brand’s online presence
- The best kept secrets to help you maximise the return you get from your online marketing
MATATO said a limited number of 50 seats are available for both the programmes, which were first held in the Maldives last year. Registration would be confirmed on first-come-first serve basis, it added.
The non-profit organisation is also gearing up to host the first ever human capacity building programme conducted in Maldives by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
The programme — the first PATA Human Capacity Building Programme to be conducted outside its home country of Thailand — will be themed ‘Exploring the Art of Storytelling’, and will take place from July 12-13 as part of the Travel Trade Maldives (TTM) fair in Dharubaaruge.
The programme, based on the successful PATA Academy event held in December at the association’s Engagement Hub in Bangkok, delivers an intensive and interactive training programme incorporating a series of classroom interactions conducted by leading travel industry experts coupled with practical activities, group assignments and networking opportunities.
Participants gain hands-on experience by working both individually and on team-based projects where presentations are shared at the end of the programme. From this intensive high-value training, participants take home practical marketing strategies to be applied and implemented in their respective organisations.