California-based tourism bureau Visit Oakland has launched a destination training programme for the area’s hospitality workers to gain a knowledge of the city’s attractions sector.

The scheme, which is part of plans to expand the East Bay city’s appeal as a travel destination for domestic and international tourists, is a regular monthly class to train hospitality workers as brand ambassadors for the city.

The classes teach trainees about the Oakland area’s sights, sounds and things to do, which the workers can then in turn share with visitors they encounter on a daily basis in their line of profession.

The inaugural class, held last month, hosted the Oakland Museum of California’s visitor-facing staff, who were taken on a driving tour through Oakland and concluded the day with a classroom session on creating high quality customer experiences for visitors and tourists.

“Tourism is a $1bn (€772m, £613m) industry. We need (visitors’) experiences to be positive and successful, from their time with a cab driver to the person checking them in at the hotel to their waitress,” said Kim Bardakian of Visit Oakland.

The scheme has proved successful in other cities such as Santa Monica – the first to provide the class and subsequently licence it out to other locations.