ANTIGUA & BARBUDA HOTELS & TOURISM ASSOCIATION

Everyone will agree that customer service is one of the most important areas of a company's overall strategy in conducting business. Without customers you really don't have a business.

With this concept at the heart of the tourism industry, the Antigua Hotels and Tourist Association (AHTA) has been hosting a series of training workshops based around Customer Service.

"It's up to me: Think and Serve!" This was the focus of the five two-day sessions, which saw around 120 persons receive training.

Participants at the training sessions came from a cross section of tourism stakeholders but also included Immigration and Customs officers and employees from the Airport Authority.

The workshops, which wrapped up last Friday, were facilitated by President of Stuart Marketing and Associates, David Stuart, who has held several Sales, Marketing and Management positions in the Caribbean, UK, and USA.These include; member of the Barbados Board of Tourism and Marketing Manager for Tourism, Director of Marketing and later Corporate Development for LIAT, Director of Sales in Florida and the Bahamas and a dynamic speaker, motivated and Ordained Minister.

According to Stuart, "The Customer is the boss, but they have different and varying needs. He says the key is in knowing and understanding those needs, then developing a passion for serving those customers while meeting and exceeding their expectations."

"It is up to each Hotel Worker, Taxi operator, Immigration official, and others, to decide how that service is delivered and how it is experienced by the visitor."

The customer service expert says every person in the Hospitality Industry must therefore think about how their actions and non-actions affect all customers in general and visitors in particular.

The sessions examined Business skills, Employee motivation, Air Transportation and Tourism marketing specializing in Customer Service.

The facilitator hopes that, "The workshops will help to change current perceptions about service and focus participants on the need to think and act differently, if they are to be successful at giving customers a service experience they will never forget."

Such an experience, Stuart says, will cause visitors to tell others and keep coming back themselves to Antigua and Barbuda for more.