IGY Trident and Forbes Travel Guide Launch Crew Service Training in West Palm Beach

The IGY Trident program and Forbes Travel Guide launched their first eagerly anticipated and highly successful superyacht crew service training course in Florida last month.

The full day program – which has been designed exclusively for IGY Trident members and their crew – was held at the Hilton West Palm Beach on October 19^th.

Following an introduction from IGY’s Bert Fowles, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, the focus was on educating crew in the Forbes Travel Guide Hospitality Training key principles. Gathered in a conference room, all those registered watched PowerPoint presentations and received high level coaching from leaders in the service field as they imparted their wisdom, experience and values to participants. Representatives from Trident partner Cleveland Clinic also gave a talk.

Forbes Travel Guide is the only global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants and spas. Their anonymous professional inspectors evaluate up to 900 objective standards with an emphasis on exceptional service. The only way to secure a Five-Star, Four-Star or Recommended rating is by earning it through FTG’s independent and highly discerning inspection process.

The E.M.B.A.R.K program – and how it differs from other crew training courses 

The most important components of FTG’s unique crew service training for Trident members include:

Professional Curriculum: access to proprietary crew service training and professional development created specifically for superyacht crew based on FTG’s years of unrivalled experience.

Marketing & Promotion: The FTG designation received by individual crew members and yachts following completion of the course can be used for marketing and promotion purposes.

Training Programs: Recurrent training, continuing education and leadership development are all tenets of FTG’s accredited training programs.

Credentials: Importantly, accreditation following completion of FTG’s training courses belongs to the individual and is contained in a live ‘passport’ which they can leverage across the industry when pursuing and promoting their own career development path.

The E.M.B.A.R.K program is designed to address some of the key challenges in the yachting industry, focusing on consistency in delivering excellent service, as well as improving communication among crew, team cohesion and personal presentation skills

Specific topics include Foundations of Five-Star Service, Owning Your Five-Star Space and Setting up Your Yacht for Success.

World class standards

If anyone is capable of elevating the existing levels of superyacht service to the dizzy heights of their land-based equivalents in terms of the world’s finest hotels, restaurants and spas, it’s FTG. Universally recognised as the hospitality industry’s leading authority on Five-Star service, they have led the charge in delivering unparalleled customer service standards since their inception as Mobil Travel Guide in 1958. 

The FTG crew training programs are only accessible through IGY Trident. Launched last spring, this pioneering initiative for superyacht owners offers access to a collection of industry-leading services which have been integrated to provide a single source of optimised operations and experiences. In short, Trident delivers an exciting new level of service, training and exclusive benefits to invitation-only members around the globe.

“I want to thank IGY for its support in IGY Trident training with the teams in West Palm Beach,” said Silvia Nauta, Vice President of Service and Quality Development at Forbes Travel Guide, after the course ended.

“It was a great undertaking to manage all the logistics and get everyone to attend and it is much appreciated. The feedback for our first session was positive overall and the teams enjoyed their time together.”

Indeed, there were beaming smiles all round from satisfied crew members at the end of the course as they all posed together for pictures, proudly displaying their FTG accreditation certificates alongside the Trident and FTG training teams.

“It was an absolute pleasure working with Forbes Travel Guide on this first course of its kind and we look forward to building on a great relationship,” said Bert.

For further information on Trident and Forbes Travel Guide’s training programs and how to sign up, please visit igytrident.com.