Image: Bournemouth will host the new academy

Bournemouth will host one of Europe's first National Coastal Tourism Academies (NCTA) - a knowledge transfer institution focusing on customer care in tourism and hospitality.

Financial support is being provided by the government's Coastal Communities Fund and is also designed to underpin its wider commitment to growing the UK tourism sector.

Bournemouth Borough Council will provide additional investment, working with the School of Tourism at Bournemouth University and local firms to design and deliver the academy.

NCTA will support 23 new jobs and 107 volunteer roles initially and is expected to grow the local tourism economy by 2.3 per cent to £9.5m within three years.

The academy will deliver three elements - a Coastal Activity Park at Boscombe; a resort-wide visitor experience initiative; and a research and development programme.

Bournemouth director of tourism Mark Smith said: "This is a wonderful opportunity to accelerate the growth of tourism by sharing best practice in a more structured way.

"This new initiative will introduce a new level of customer care that will not only benefit visitors and residents of the town, but will boost the balance sheets of local businesses."

Click here for more information about the new NCTA in Bournemouth.

Image: Christophe.Finot