Cardiff taxi drivers are being offered a briefing to help them provide a warm Welsh welcome to visitors staying in Cardiff for The 2010 Ryder Cup.
Cardiff’s cabbies are being offered the special hour-long Welcome sessions at National Museum, Cardiff on 24 August. Three sessions will be spread across the afternoon, starting at 12noon, 1.30pm or 3pm. Free refreshments and sandwiches are being provided after each session so that drivers can use their meal break time to attend these important sessions.
The ‘Welcome to the 2010 Ryder Cup’ sessions have been developed by Coleg Llandrillo on behalf of Capital Region Tourism, the lead tourism body for South East Wales. The sessions are being offered to anyone likely to have a role in welcoming visitors to Wales this October and beyond.
Alice Brown, project manager for Capital Region Tourism, said: “The capital region will be the focus of world attention for a very short time during The 2010 Ryder Cup. The Welcome sessions will give the Cardiff cabbies tips and tools to make sure visitors fully appreciate that they are in Wales and that we have a distinctive and high quality welcome to offer, not only during the week of the tournament but long after it has taken place.
“Everyone has a role to play, however small, in ensuring visitors remember their visit to Wales in a positive light. Even a short taxi ride can have an impact on the overall perception of Wales. The region stands to gain more from the legacy of The 2010 Ryder Cup than immediately during the event. We want to put Wales on the world map for the right reasons so that visitors return again and again to experience that warm Welsh welcome.”
All of Cardiff’s taxi drivers have been invited to take part in the specially devised Welcome training sessions which have been condensed into a forty-five minute seminar specifically for taxi drivers. The events are taking place at the National Museum, Cardiff on the afternoon of 24 August, with three sessions spread across the afternoon starting at 12 noon, 1.30pm or 3pm.
Course tutor, Angelena Boden, who has delivered similar sessions in Atlanta and Sydney prior to the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, said: “Taxi’s are often the first or last person a visitor meets when they travel by train or plane. First impressions count and we are determined that cabbies are given the skills they need to offer a truly warm Welsh welcome to people whenever they are in Wales. This short session encapsulates the essence of why a Welsh welcome is important and different. The cabbies will come away with the information they need to be able to make that first impression a positive experience. If they can help persuade just one customer to come back to the area for another, maybe longer holiday, then that’s good for everyone.”
In order to reduce potential congestion in the local area and to minimise vehicle flows, direct access to The Celtic Manor will be prohibited. All access for the general public will be via the Park and Ride sites at Llanwern and Tredegar Park or, for those travelling by train, Newport train station. An opportunity for taxi drivers across the region will be to get people from accommodation to the Park and Ride sites or the local train station so they can travel to Newport.
To reserve a place on the Cabbie Welcome Course, or to find out more about setting up a Welcome to the Ryder Cup Wales 2010 session for your staff or organisation, contact Chris Allen, event welcome co-ordinator, by email [email protected] or call 029 2059 9221.
