In an effort to improve the national tourist industry, the Venezuelan Tourism Ministry decided to award certification to personnel who meet its established standards of service. 

Client, stakeholders, partners

• Government of Venezuela
• Ministry of Tourism

Focus
English for the tourism industry: creating a national system for certifying the English level of tourism workers.

The project 
In an effort to improve the national tourist industry, the Venezuelan Tourism Ministry decided to award certification to personnel who meet its established standards of service. As part of this policy, in 2007 the Ministry asked the British Council to advise on a project focussing on the evaluation and certification of the English language level of tourism personnel.

As a result, the British Council was asked to lead a project. The project is highly innovative in its approach. It comprises these elements:

• the selection and training of a committee of 40 evaluators 
• the production of the test instruments, to be used initially to test 750 tourism workers
• monitoring of the testing and certification process and the subsequent cascading of the training to a further group of evaluators.

The project is a key component of the Venezuelan government's plans to stimulate tourism, by ensuring that existing and future employees in the sector have adequate English language skills.

What the stakeholders say
"I never knew the British Council did this kind of training apart from giving English classes. This workshop exceeded my expectations. The quality of the training was excellent."
Member of the Ministry's Evaluation and Certification Committee

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