Why You Should Switch From On-Site To Online Training
Online professional tourism, hospitality, destination and travel training provides maximum benefits for minimum resources. It is efficient, thorough, and can be specifically tailored to the needs of your organization and people. It is also an effective time management tool, giving employees the ability to build skills and professional knowledge whenever it's most convenient for them. Finally, your staff can increase their proficiency without interfering with daily work duties. The list of why online courses are better just goes on from there. Here are the top 7 reasons why you may want to think about switching from onsite to online training within your tourism & hospitality organization.
1. Improved Memory Retention
One of the biggest arguments against on-site training is how little employees remember after the fact. Think about all the years you spent as a student. Now think about how much you actually remember from that time period. Unfortunately, the forgetting curve tends to rob us of our knowledge. Only experiences that cater to our needs and allow for immediate application boost memory retention. eLearning courses focus training into on specific areas of knowledge so as to increase relevancy. Employees only learn what they need, making them far more likely to retain the takeaways.
RELATED: Cost-Saving Online Tourism Ambassador Training
2. Employees Can Work Around Their Personal Schedules
On-site training is quickly becoming obsolete in the modern world. Work, the shift to a work-from-home model, long commutes, families, hobbies, and many other things occupy your employees' time. They no longer have the luxury of taking a few months or even a few years to develop their talents. Online training offers the advantage of working at the employee's own pace, when it fits into their schedule. Online training resources are accessible anytime, which makes online training a more flexible option for busy adult learners.
3. Provides Support When Its Needed
On-site training takes place at a set time in a specific location. Therefore, employees are unable to access the training resources when they need it most - on the job. Instead, they have to wait for the next scheduled training session or worse, spend extra company time & money trying to figure it out. Online training allows them to address their concerns and overcome challenges at a moment's notice. For example, a microlearning online training library gives them access to a broad range of just-in-time support resources. Employees have the power to focus on specific areas for improvement in order to overcome performance roadblocks. Another valuable "moment of need" tool is social learning. For instance, social media groups or online discussions where employees can ask questions or share tips.
RELATED: Create Stakeholder Alignment & Relevance
4. Build Practical Skills
Quality online training encourages employees to apply what they've learned before making costly mistakes on the job. Thus, it's based more on practical experience than theory. Employees can learn everything from how to direct a tour, plan an itinerary, manage angry customers, run a meeting, manage the company books, or provide superior customer service. Employees develop skill sets they can use in their everyday life and apply directly in the the travel, tourism and hospitality workplace. You can even facilitate skill-building with real-world scenarios, simulations, and examples. For instance, a task-based simulation that features customer personas where employees must use communication and sales skills to meet the customer's needs, or a branching scenario that centers on a conflict with a co-worker. In this case, employees have to use problem-solving skills to get the team back on track.
5. Caters To Different Learning Preferences
Every audience consists of a variety of backgrounds and experience levels. For example, there are more people over sixty but there is also an abundance of younger generations in the corporate workforce. These workers have been around computers their whole lives. Growing up, they were more likely to have a smartphone than a traditional toy. They probably acquired their skills through mobile apps and YouTube online training tutorials. This generation learns more effectively through the online training techniques that come so naturally to them. Online training holds their attention and engages them in a more meaningful way. Well-planned instructional design (course building) also helps those less familiar with technology by providing intuitive prompts and easy-to-follow curriculum.
6. Enhances Employee Excitement And Engagement
One of the most effective techniques in eLearning course design is gamification. Using well-researched adult psychology data and application, Gamified online training courses feature rewards, levels, and other game mechanics, all of which are framed by a traditional online training course structure. Employees are able to achieve measurable milestones and proudly display their accomplishments. Even online quizzes are structured to re-assure corporate learners by showing them what they already know and encouraging them to dig deeper. Plus, they offer the added benefit of immediate eLearning feedback, opportunity and recommendations. All of this results in increased employee engagement and motivation. Employees can monitor their own performance and celebrate their achievements, which encourages active participation and self-motivation. Online training also makes Certification & Credentialing easier than ever - with independently verified completion, monitoring and certificate management.
7. Puts Employees In Control
Online training puts employees in the driver’s seat of their Learning and Development. They get to decide how long to train, when to complete tasks, and how to structure their own development paths. The online training courses are available 24/7, so they aren't required to keep up with their peers. You can empower your remote employees by creating clickable course maps and microlearning online training repositories like a Private Tourism Academy. This way they have the ability to piece together personalized online training paths that improve core proficiencies. Emphasize the benefits of active participation so that they are more motivated to learn and invite them to mentor less experienced employees so that they can pass along their skills and insights.
Online training provides significant benefits both the individual employee and the organization. It allows your staff members to work together, giving everyone the resources they need when they need them the most. Online training is also more cost-effective than on-site alternatives, as you don't have to foot the bill for the instructor's travel expenses, site rental fees, or printed materials. This also means that they're more environmentally sustainable, cutting CO2 emissions by up to 90%. If you're still unsure about making the switch from onsite to online training, consider a blended learning program. This enables you to gradually introduce learning technologies to your employees and steadily build an online training repository. The Tourism Academy can help you connect with wonderful instructors and program developers who can make this happen for you.
Have you decided on switching from onsite to online training, but still feel insecure about how much it's going to cost you? Read the article 7 Tips For Developing Cost-Effective eLearning Courses to discover 7 tips to help you keep eLearning development costs low and make the most of your eLearning budget.
Learn more about Tourism Ambassador training:
Bonus: Who are your stakeholders?
Bring destination stakeholders into alignment to support tourism:
Tourism Ambassadors from all possible market sectors come together to create a full visitor experience. Destinations, both big and small, can align these sectors successfully because each benefits from a positive visitor experience! Here are just a few of those who are positively impacted by your credentialed tourism ambassadors (CTA).
- Transportation hubs like Airports, Rail Stations, Bus Depots, etc.
- Activities, Attractions & Events - arts, culture, heritage, casinos, sports
- Government - City, State, Federal - elected officials like mayors and city council, government employees like police and community outreach
- Community Members - Passionate Volunteers & Local Citizens
- Conference Hotels, Convention Centers & Meeting Places
- Local Mom & Pop Shops and Downtown Merchants
- Community & Workforce Development / Economic Development
- Schools & Higher Education - colleges, universities, community colleges
- Medical Facilities - Urgent Care Centers & Hospitals
- Lodging & Hotels - home rentals, beds & breakfast, RV parks, hotels, etc.
- Bars, Clubs, Lounges & Nightlife
- Real Estate and Reinvestment Firms
- Places to Dine - coffee shops, restaurants, classy joints and local favorites
- Commercial Real Estate - malls, downtown alliances, retailers, districts, etc.
- Event Facilities - convention center, arena, theaters, concert halls, sporting events
- Modes of Transport - Uber, Lyft, taxi, cab, shuttle, public transit, local trolly, limo, motorcoach
- Tourism Promoters - Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO), Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), Chambers of Commerce & Community Economic Development Groups
- Everyone else - Tourism Spending benefits every local person and entity through reduced taxes and economic development, including local banks, corporations, etc.
Need help aligning your community, finding tourism ambassadors or designing your tourism ambassador program? Contact us today and our expert team will be happy to help you get the results you’re looking for. Cheers!
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