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FAQs

What does KiaOraMai mean?

KiaOraMai: creating consistent, positive, uniquely New Zealand customer experiences every time, everywhere for every customer in New Zealand.

KiaOraMai means conveying a genuine care and willingness to bring our best to how we engage with others.

Why is KiaOraMai necessary?

New Zealand relies on quality service. In our cafes, hotels, adventure and excursions business, taxis, coaches, retail stores and everywhere else we ‘serve’ a customer or visitor. TIA identified that there is an industry-wide concern at the lack of an accepted single, recognisable entry-level standard for employees working directly with visitors and/or customers in the service industries.

KiaOraMai has been developed as a joint initiative between the TIA and the SITA and will ensure that New Zealand has the pool of talented people able to deliver not just good customer experiences, but uniquely New Zealand world class visitor experiences.

What has the KiaOraMai training programme been designed to do?

• Provide employees with the skills and knowledge to provide a world class visitor and customer experience that is uniquely New Zealand
• Primarily support the training of employees across service sector workplaces
• Provide a learning and development package that is enduring and that includes up-to-date learning examples, case studies and assessments contextualised to industry subsectors
• Give recognition to employees that meet industry entry-level essential service skills standards
• Provide appropriate supervisory/management materials, systems and processes to ensure employees successfully complete the programme
• Provide opportunities for further workplace training by linking employees and workplaces to national qualifications developed and implemented by Industry Training Organisations (ITOs)

Tourism is a bedrock of the New Zealand economy and a fundamental contributor to New Zealand’s economy and way of life. Tourism employs nearly 1 in 10 New Zealanders, or 181,000 people directly and indirectly in the New Zealand workforce.

Tourism expenditure, including international and domestic tourism, reached $20.1 billion for the year ending March 2007, representing 18.3% of New Zealand’s foreign exchange sector. People are the tourism sector’s major asset and having well trained, professional staff is integral to delivering a high quality visitor experience.

Does KiaOraMai lead to future training?

Yes. The unit standards in KiaOraMai are part of the National Certificate in Service Sector (Level 3). Graduates of KiaOraMai can enter a training programme towards the rest of the unit standards in the National Certificate in Service Sector (Level 3) and gain this national qualification.