WERT Programme Overview 11/10/20151

Unit 1: Using Marketing to Develop Your Business Overall, I found the Marketing Unit to be especially helpful, particularly since we were just starting our business and needed this exact type of guidance and focus in order to help get us organized. 11/10/20152

Unit 2: How to Make e-Marketing Work for You There is mention of “Best Practice” in this section, concerning legal implications, etc. which I feel is a very important topic that must be handled with care by each company, however… I felt the explanation and supportive information were lacking under this topic. What should a privacy policy, disclaimer, or terms & conditions include? Where should they be included on our websites and/or ? Is there a standard form available? Should we have a lawyer involved? I have many, many questions in this area, and have found it difficult to find answers. 11/10/20153

Unit 3: Managing Your Business Finances Sections 3.2 and 3.3 were particularly helpful… and confusing! Since we are a new business, it is difficult to come up with numbers and figures. I think it would have helped a bit to pair those who are more experienced with the beginners, so that they could help share their experience and insights as we worked through some of these things. 11/10/20154

Unit 4: How to Develop a Sustainable Rural Tourism Business (a) 4.1: “Eco-friendly practices” this unit covers things that we are particularly interested in, and while some things we had already thought of, still others we had not. What a great way to keep us thinking and innovating! We will definitely be coming back to this unit as we continue on to our goal. 11/10/20155

Unit 4: How to Develop a Sustainable Rural Tourism Business (b) Unit 4.3: “Developing a quality customer service” I find extremely valuable, and will be returning to this unit frequently to help remind us of the points we need to be considering and reviewing…I also intend to create a customer survey as suggested so that we can gain valuable feedback from our customers. A lot of things to think about in this section, as well as great ideas! I also found Unit 4.4: “Developing communication skills” very useful, and a good resource to return to. 11/10/20156

Unit 5: Meeting Legal Requirements I did not really have any time to spend on this unit, but hope to do the research suggested and prepare the activity as part of my business plan. 11/10/20157

Unit 6: Business Plan I tried to do as many of the activities as possible as we went through the units, but nothing is done in a proper way, except for maybe the forecast charts because the formats were already provided. My goal, however, is to fully complete the business plan, as I believe it is an invaluable resource and tool for starting and maintaining our business, as well as helping us to reach our future goals. 11/10/20158

Overall Summary (i) What I really would have liked was more time for each unit, as well as more small-group work on each of the activities and concepts covered in each unit. I think that each unit should be covered on its own at each session, and that it should be divided into a clearly defined format of: lecture, group work, group sharing/presentation and feedback. 11/10/20159

Overall Summary (ii) I think this project should provide ongoing meetings and support, every few months, so that the women involved can share the progress and/or difficulties, get feedback and support from the others, and perhaps some guidance on certain issues. Also, it may be nice to have a main speaker on a different topic every meeting. 11/10/201510

Overall Summary (iii) I have noticed that the manual tries to cover everything from whatever point in business an individual may be, which I find slightly confusing and disconcerting. Perhaps the manual could be divided into two parts: one geared to those just starting on their project, and one for those who are already in the midst of working their business…? 11/10/201511

Overall Summary (iv) I would like to see the WERT programme become directly involved in the government agrotourism project. It was a pity that the Cyprus Agrotourism subsidy project left us hanging out to dry with NO form of support or resources, when they invested so much money in the renovation project. Also, I feel that some of the units included in the WERT manual (especially Unit 4: How to Develop a Sustainable Rural Tourism Business) should be presented to the Agrotourism and Town Planning committees so that they can harmonize their requirements with more eco- friendly measures. It was a pity that they required us to do certain things which in the long run uses/wastes more electricity, etc. 11/10/201512