Case Study - Wolgan Valley

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Australia's most environmentally responsible tourism destination, is set amidst the stunning, rugged Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Wolgan Valley is Emirates’ first Australian Hotels & Resort.

The Challenge

Engage staff in service excellence as part of the induction to Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa.

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa is Emirates’ first property in Australia, and was designed as an environmentally, architecturally and geographically unique premium escape resort. Because of its remoteness and pricing, the management team quickly realised that the service experience would need to be a critical part of the property’s key selling point. How could they meet the promise of a consistent and consistently higher level of service delivery than their competitors?

i perform was chosen to address this challenge, because of its extensive experience with premium brands, especially within the hotel industry.

“Finding a training presenter in NSW is an easy task - finding one with the hotel industry specifics and the personalities of your team was the main reason we decided to work with you.”
Kylie, Human Resources Manager

The Approach

Define the service excellence ‘credo’ with key stakeholders, and embed this vision via induction.

Understanding that culture is responsible for inspiring and supporting consistently great service experiences, i perform approached this challenge at the Induction level for pre-opening staff. i perform collaborated with management to understand the vision, values and philosophy for the property, and used a two-day facilitated workshop to instil ownership of these values in the opening staff. This also ensured there was a common service ethic across all aspects of operations.

In the workshop, staff were given responsibility for ‘deciding’ the service excellence credo they would commit to, in order to deliver a consistent and outstanding service experience. Attention was given to:

• The service economy vs the experience economy
• Service excellence model
• Why you were chosen
• Team building activities
• Sequence of service and creating “wow” experiences

The Outcome

Service excellence has successfully integrated into the hotel’s culture and operational psyche.

Since opening, Wolgan Valley has been recognised consistently for its outstanding contribution to the Australian and international hospitality industry including:

• 2013 Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award, “Top Hotel” and “Top Luxury Hotel” in Australia
• 2012 Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) National Travel Industry Award (NTIA) - Best Australian Hotel/Resort
• 2011 Condé Nast UK Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards, #2 Overseas Leisure Hotel, Australasia/South Pacific
• 2010 Australian Hotel Association Overall Hotel of the Year

i perform continues to play a key role in inducting new staff into the resort’s values and philosophies.