More Help For Businesses Wanting International Customers
25th September 2008
Categories: Business Support
More Help For Businesses to Win International Customers
The North East Regional Language Network (RLN), which works to improve the region's international communication skills to help businesses increase trade with overseas customers, has received renewed funding to ensure it continues over the next three years.
The organisation has been highly successful and was assessed as the most effective of the ten RLNs in England. It provides a range of activities to help businesses understand, communicate and win international customers. These include:
- the development of new language products for businesses to use with staff and in their marketing materials
- ways to identify and meet language skills gaps in tourism and hospitality businesses
- a directory of translators, interpretors and foreign language teachers
- equipping business advisors, such as Business Link Account Managers and Area Tourism Partnerships, with language and cultural development skills
Specific help for the tourism and hospitality sector
Zelie Guerin, the RLN's manager, said "We will be helping firms in all sectors but also doing some specific work with the tourism and hospitality sector, in which language and culture skills are so important in helping the region attract international visitors and encouraging them to visit again."
Exploit new markets
Ian Williams, Director of Business and Industry at One NorthEast, that supplied the funding said, "During these challenging times for the economy, it has never been more important for businesses to focus on ways to maximise their competitiveness and exploit new markets. The Regional Language Network has some fantastic tools to help them achieve this."
Find out more about winning international customers
The Tourism Business Toolkit has a set of pages dedicated to winning international cusomers, which includes downloads and resources from the RLN
- Visit the Toolkit Winning International Customers pages
- Download translated accommodation symbols
- Visit the North East Regional Language Network website: www.rln-northeast.com.
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