Melbourne Airport to invest in cultural awareness and communication skills

Following China and India being identified as two of Australia’s strongest future growth markets, Melbourne Airport has announced that it will invest in enhancing the cultural awareness and communication skills of its front line retail and hospitality staff.

Staff will be involved in a series of tailored workshops, learning to address the unique and evolving characteristics, needs, challenges and opportunities presented by customers from international markets.

Though Melbourne Airport doesn’t directly employ retail and hospitality staff, the Acting Chief of Retail stated that investing in the development workshops made sense for the staff, passengers, retailers and the airport in its entirety. 

Rosemary Earner, Acting Chief of Retail at Melbourne Airport, said: “Last year, more than 11 million passengers travelled internationally through our doors, with around half of these being foreign nationals. We’re literally talking about millions of people who are each having multiple experiences of customer service on their journey through the airport.” 

The airport worked with Asian market specialists at TravConsult in order to deliver a bespoke training programme that aligned with the airport’s unique strategy and international market objectives. Melbourne Airport aims to conclude the first stage of the programme ahead of the Christmas season, one of the busiest times of year, with strong growth from the Chinese and Indian markets being a key focus for 2020.

Earner continued: “Melbourne Airport is a great place to shop, a great place to work, and a great place to invest – and front line customer service is at the heart of that proposition. Even the best customer service experience in the biggest suburban retail centres just doesn’t translate like-for-like into the airport environment. It’s important that we work in close partnership with our retail and hospitality tenants to understand that nuance – and help their teams do a great job in getting it right. Whether it’s a warm welcome or a fond farewell, what resonates with customers from one culture may completely miss the mark for customers of another.”