Inverness Airport is the first air terminal in the UK to achieve one of the hospitality industry’s top standards after 18 months of work on a project in partnership with Inverness and Nairn Enterprise (INE).

The airport, operated by HIAL, has achieved Hospitality Assured accreditation – the international benchmark that recognises high standards of customer service in the hospitality industry.

Hospitality Assured has been developed by the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA) and is being promoted in the UK in partnership with the British Hospitality Association. The airport is among the first group of businesses in the Highlands to achieve accreditation as part of an INE pilot scheme.

The award was presented at Inverness Airport today (Friday 15 November) by Caithness and Sutherland MP, John Thurso (Lord Thurso), patron of HCIMA.

Over the past 18 months all the businesses involved in the terminal operation at Inverness, including management, airlines, security, catering, cleaning, taxis, and car hire firms joined forces under the Inverness Air Terminal umbrella to work towards a customer service benchmark to ensure airport users enjoy the best service. The partners in the project have worked with Inverness-based business consultant and Hospitality Assured training provider John Burchell to achieve accreditation.

One of the key developments was the establishment of a quarterly survey of terminal users and aircraft passengers to monitor progress and develop the terminal’s approach to customer care in line with public expectation.

Sheena Mitchell, HIAL's terminal manager at Inverness said: "Bringing together such a range of businesses working within Inverness Airport and recognising that we all have the general public as a customer was the first step and involved a degree of cultural change. Training was then developed over the past year which led to the creation of a service promise and a general consensus on the high level of service the public should both expect and receive while using the airport."

Airport manager James Walton added: "To be the first airport in the UK to achieve this internationally recognised accreditation is certainly a significant achievement for Highlands and Islands Airports and for all the businesses involved in the terminal. I have no doubt that our collective investment in training and customer care has improved the service experienced by visitors and passengers and will ensure that we continue to meet the expectations of the travelling public in years to come through regular reviews."

John Burchell, of the Business Excellence Consultancy said: "Inverness Airport posed a number of challenges, not least the fact we were dealing with many organisations who shared relationships with both the public and each other. Airports also tend to be driven by operational requirements – getting people through a terminal and on to aircraft – and this often leads to the individual needs of the customer being overlooked.

"However, by bringing all the businesses within the airport together and enabling them to get to know each other and their customers better it has been possible to really shift thinking and the impact of the changes that have been brought about is now being seen in terms of positive feedback through the airport users surveys. The partners in the terminal are now working to shared standards of customer service and recognise the role each has to play in this process. Hospitality Assured is ultimately about improving businesses and there is no doubt that Inverness Airport is now a much better commercial environment as a result of the hard work put in by all the partners in the terminal over the past 18 months."

The Hospitality Assured scheme is supported and promoted by Inverness and Nairn Enterprise. Ian Fraser, head of skills development at INE, said the recognition was important to Highland tourism and was a reflection of the sector's emphasis on training and skills development.

He added: "There is no doubt that most businesses in the Highlands, providing services to the tourism sector, take skills development very seriously. Only by taking this approach can we be sure to provide visitors to the area with world class customer service. I am delighted this attitude and the contribution it makes to tourism and the image of the Highlands generally, is now being encouraged and recognised formally in this way. I would urge all tourism-related, and indeed businesses from other sectors as well, to consider applying for this prestigious quality assurance mark."

Bob Macleod, managing director of HIAL, said: "For many travellers arriving in the region Inverness Airport is their first taste of the Highlands. This makes it all the more important that the experience is a positive one where everyone from airline staff to the taxi driver recognises their expectations and is focused on delivering a high quality service. Inverness is now at the forefront of this drive in terms of UK airports and I am sure that other businesses across the Highlands and Islands will recognise the benefits of Hospitality Assured and work towards accreditation."

Direct benefits to passengers as a result of the Hospitality Assured project at Inverness Airport Terminal include:

• The introduction of quarterly passenger and visitor surveys. This method of collecting and analysing data has enabled the project members to focus on those services which are of most concern to their collective customers.

• The recognition by and integration of the terminal operators as a one stop service provider under the umbrella heading of Inverness Air Terminal.

• Improved smoke extraction in smoking areas in the terminal.

• Introduction of name badges for staff.

• Additional and improved terminal information signage.

• Improved airport approach road signage.

• Improved switchboard services with the addition of an auto attendant system.

• Work in progress for the provision of disabled toilet and baby changing facilities in the Departure Lounge

• Introduction of disabled blue badge system to car parks – work in progress.

• Introduction of a disabled arrival pick-up point.

• Work in progress for the provision of TV, Internet services and dog walking area.

• Introduction of a taxi sharing system to counter the inadequacies of the current bus link with Inverness.

• Introduction of a catering customer satisfaction system in both café areas.

• Availability of newspapers, magazines drinks and confectionery in departures café outlet.

The other businesses to receive Hospitality Assured accreditation were: The Lodge at Daviot Mains; Sunnybrae Hotel, Nairn; Maple Court Hotel, Inverness; Loch Ness Lodge Hotel, Drumnadrochit; Royal Highland Hotel and Glen Mhor Hotel.

ENDS