SA Host

in association with

SA Host is a national programme to develop service excellence skills and promote a culture of customer service in South Africa. It does this by:

Creating an awareness of the importance of the individual’s role in delivering superior customer service in their place of work and their community.
The experience gained from similar programmes run in fourteen countries worldwide, has been used to develop the SA Host programme.

SA Host was initiated by a partnership of DEAT, SA Welcome (SA Tourism), THETA and NBI to develop a culture of customer service in South Africa and to underpin the SA Welcome campaign with training in customer service excellence. With the endorsement of TBCSA and funding from the Business Trust, THETA was tasked with establishing the programme in 2001.
SA Host was established in South Africa in December 2001 with the help and training from ZimHost under the management of THETA (The Tourism, Hospitality Education and Training Authority).

Improve service standards through training
Change attitudes towards visitors by creating awareness of the value of the visitor industry to the country and the role played by every resident;
Elevate national pride.

SA Host is a low cost, high impact, two-day customer service skills workshop presented by a licensed SA Host Leader (Trainer).
Successful workshop participants become SA Hosts and are awarded a certificate and lapel pin which identifies them as people who are committed to providing excellent service and being ambassadors for their community and for South Africa.

Benefits for the individual
Enhanced skills and confidence
Greater job satisfaction
A training qualification that is recognised internationally
Being part of an important national programme to improve service standards throughout South Africa
Benefits for the organisation
Improved bottom line as a result of greater customer satisfaction and increased repeat business
Improved employee morale
The right to use the SA Host Logo to market the organisation as a customer friendly SA Host Business/Organisation when 60% of employees, including management, are qualified as SA Hosts.
Benefits for a community
Improved reputation as a visitor friendly and hospitable destination
Increased repeat business, longer visitor stays and increased expenditure
Improved service to local residents and reduced economic leakage
The right to use the SA Host Logo to market the community as a customer friendly SA Host Community when 60% of all businesses are accredited as SA Host businesses
Visitors and local customers alike will recognise the SA Host logo as the sign of a customer friendly organisation and choose SA Host businesses for service excellence.

Due to the structure and methodology of the SA Host workshop material the number of participants needs to be a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 20. As the programme is generic it applies to all industries and all levels within the organisation.
SA Host has found that best results are achieved when management together with their employees attend the workshop. Management needs to experience first hand the benefits of the programme creating support and a culture of SA Host in the organisation as a whole. In the workshop an unthreatening environment is created which allows staff and management the opportunity to express and appreciate their differing individual perspectives.