CoE Update | August 2022

August 30th, 2022

Welcome to the Centre of Excellence August Update

The first program to be presented by the CoE was the internationally recognised Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 2 courses. The three-day courses were held in Nowra, Merimbula and Moruya throughout August for frontline employees involved in the service and sale of wine.

The feedback from the 47 participants who completed the course was extremely positive, many acknowledging that this training has provided them with the confidence and knowledge to recommend and promote wine, particularly locally produced vintages. Congratulations to all of the participants and good luck with the exam results. Participant feedback included:

“Such a beneficial opportunity to increase my wine knowledge and put Australian wines into a global perspective. I have more confidence on imported wines (which are a small part of our wine list). I will be able to share that knowledge with our staff & guests.” Sonia Greig, South on Albany

In the next few months, the CoE will be presenting activities including local knowledge tours and professional development. It will pilot a program in schools to inspire young students to consider a career in hospitality and tourism – a great life choice that opens the doors for you to travel around the world and teaches life-long skills.

Happy to hear your thoughts on how the CoE can support you.

Talk soon,
Robyn & Sam

September Program

Hospitality is Hiring Campaign
With peak tourist season approaching, tourism and hospitality businesses are looking to fill jobs to ensure they offer quality service and deliver a memorable visitor experience to the hundreds of visitors who will travel to the NSW South Coast to enjoy our wonderful tourism offerings over summer.

To assist businesses with securing workers, the CoE is partnering with Outcomes Corp to deliver the Hospitality is Hiring campaign designed to attract staff to fill labour and skills shortages in the Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Bega Valley local government areas.

Hospitality is Hiring invites businesses to post jobs via an online platform that will be linked to jobseekers and others looking for work.

Looking for staff? Pledge a job on the Hiring List here

Looking for a job? Find casual or permanent work in the hospitality or tourism industry here

The Hospitality is Hiring campaign will run throughout September.

. . .

Local Knowledge Tours
The CoE is planning local knowledge industry tours in the Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Bega Valley to showcase the exceptional and diverse range of product and services available to visitors.

The aim of the tours is to increase the knowledge of local tourism and hospitality workers who are customer facing on the unique local visitor offerings so that they can recommend with confidence what is available for visitors to experience, adding value to their stay and supporting local tourism products and services.

The first of these tours will be the Shoalhaven Local Knowledge Tour – Wineries and Breweries to be held on 14th September 2022.

The tour will meet in Nowra and will start out heading south taking in a winery and local breweries throughout southern and central Shoalhaven. In the afternoon the tour will continue north visiting five wineries and spending time with wine makers touring the vineyards and tasting the wines of the region before returning to Nowra.

Each producer will present on the unique characteristics of their produce to educate the attendees on their visitor experience. This will expand or open new networks of producers that offer guests memorable experiences along with high quality local produce.

If you work in a customer facing role in tourism or hospitality and are interested in participating in this tour, please register your interest here.

. . .

Business After Hours – Professional Development Session
The CoE is partnering with the Shoalhaven Council, Shoalhaven Business Chamber and Business Milton Ulladulla to present a professional development session and networking event for tourism and hospitality operators at Ulladulla Civic Centre on Wednesday 21st September 2022. This is the first of a program of professional development events that the Centre of Excellence will schedule to support local operators.

The session, facilitated by Anna Finch of Kardia HR, will share strategies to retain your employees – your most valuable asset. You will hear from three local operators on what they have introduced to keep their teams engaged during this disruptive time.
Content will include:

The importance and best practice in onboarding new members to your team.
What makes talented people leave good jobs – and what makes them stay put?
How can businesses future-proof their workforce?

The session will commence at 4pm and will followed by networking drinks at 5pm. To learn more about this event or to register to attend, please register here.

The CoE will be partnering with the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley Councils on similar programs later in the year.

October Program

Local Produce Tours
The Local Knowledge Tour program will extend into the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley local government areas. As each region has its own unique characteristics and offerings, each tour will be customised to showcase local quality produce.

Further details on the nature of these tours, including the dates in October will be available soon. If you are interested in learning more about these tours, please visit the CoE webpage and join our mailing list to receive your invitation to participate.

November Program

On Tuesday 22nd November the CoE will pilot a new program to engage and inspire school students to consider a career in tourism and/or hospitality.

Often regarded as what you do when you are studying, a career in tourism and hospitality offers so much more.

Students will hear from industry experts who have travelled the world with their skills, experienced the most exciting events and who have built extraordinary careers.

Other Skills Training and Education

The CoE supports a range of courses and events offered for job seekers, existing workers and operators to gain and develop their skills. The following activities are currently available for you to explore:

SG00002344 – Statement of Attainment in Espresso Coffee (Espresso Coffee & Hygienic Practises) 3 day course at Nowra TAFE. Read more here
Jobs for the Bega Valley – Hospitality work: Morning tea & information session at Bega TAFE. Read more here

. . .

NSW First Program

Destination NSW delivers the NSW First Program to assist tourism businesses across the state to develop, promote and sell their tourism products.

It includes face to face workshops and online webcasts that offer ‘how-to’ insights on a range of topics for the tourism industry, with events regularly added to the calendar.

Find out more and view on demand webcasts on the Destination NSW website.

For assistance with the NSW First Program and to discuss your business’ needs, please contact the Industry Development Manager at your Destination Network:

For Shoalhaven operators:
Aaron Matis
Destination Sydney Surrounds South
[email protected]

For Eurobodalla & Bega Valley operators:
Jenny Robb
Destination Southern NSW
[email protected]

. . .

Business Connect

Looking for support in running your business? Find and book a Business Connect webinar or event from business experts. Develop your business skills and help your business achieve its potential. Visit the Business Connect website for further details.

Looking for more information?

For further information on the Centre of Excellence, please contact:

Robyn Johnson
Manager Skills and Opportunities
[email protected]

Sam Tooley
Industry Partnerships Specialist
[email protected]

This Local Economic Recovery project is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the New South Wales Government under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Images (from top): (1-4) WSET Level 2 participants at Bega Valley and Shoalhaven courses, credit: Russell Quinn. (3) Cupitt’s Winery – Ulladulla, credit: Destination NSW. (4) Ulladulla Business After Hours event banner.