Vendors receive training to improve cruise satisfaction
With the cruiseship season now in full swing we can expect the streets of Belize City to remain full of visitors…at least during the middle three days of the week. But numbers can be deceiving as not all of our cruise tourists leave the country happy. That issue of client satisfaction was very much on the minds of a group of hospitality workers who gathered to plot strategy this morning. News Five’s Janelle Chanona has the story.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Today hair braiders and art and craft vendors gathered at the Belize City House of Culture for a training session in customer services.
Raymond Sheppard, Tourism and Small Business Initiative Officer, Belize City Council
“We are absolutely confident that this will help to help our people to offer a better quality of service to be more professional in the way they conduct their business.”
The workshop is a joint initiative of the Belize City Council, BELTRAIDE and the Belize Tourism Industry Association in response to the long list of criticisms from cruise visitors, many of whom feel the salesmen and women harass rather than entice customers.
Deanna Peyrefitte, Project Coord., Small and Micro Enterprise Project
“You can’t just address the tourists in any manner. While you might get away with “Gail, come yah” in Belize, you might need to know that there’s a better way to address our tourists. We don’t want you to fight about, “Dis dah weh I gat fu sell, weh yu gweng dah that venda ova deh? Come dah me.” And quarrel to break out over who you are buying from. So these are the little things that we need to let the vendors realize that if we work together and we have a better approach to customers, we might actually make more money and they will come to you and buy from you.”
Raymond Sheppard
“This is going to be an ongoing program. This is the first of many to come. Already we are in discussion about a second training but certainly what happens today is a building block for other training to come.”
And because many in the tourism industry keep odd hours, BELTRAIDE has established a hotline: 669-3737 to help entrepreneurs with everything from business plans to product development.
Lourdes Smith, Executive Chairman, BELTRAIDE
“It’s just for after hours so that instead of eight to five, Monday to Friday if somebody needs to reach BELTRAIDE for information or whatever, we have somebody that has a cell phone that can answer that call.”
The national Small and Micro Enterprise Project is being implemented by B.T.I.A. with funding provided by the Belize Tourism Board and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
According to Peyrefitte, similar sessions will be held in Cayo and Toledo later this year but the bulk of training opportunities are scheduled for 2008.
