A NEW course aimed at welcoming visitors to a North-East city has produced its first graduates.

The first group of students to complete the Welcome to Durham programme picked up their City and Guilds (level one) qualifications during a ceremony held at Priors Hall, Durham Cathedral, on Thursday (May 23).

Visit County Durham chief executive Melanie Sensicle said the Welcome to Durham course gave practical and immediately usable skills which could make the difference between a visitor being satisfied and feeling special.

Afterwards, the new graduates were given a motivational talk by Lucy McEnaney, a customer relations agent at Event Durham and gold award winner in the outstanding customer service category at 2011’s Enjoy England Awards for Excellence.

For more information on Welcome to Durham, call Michelle Gorman at Visit County Durham on 03000-261-221 or email: michelle.gorman@visitcountydurham.org