ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

The Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority collaborated with the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA) to bring the AQUILA Service and Shore Excellence Workshop to the shores of Antigua and Barbuda.

On Friday 26th July, the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association-endorsed training workshop took place at the Multipurpose Cultural Centre, Perry Bay. A diverse audience of taxi drivers, customer service professionals, tour guides, tour operators and many more benefited from the valuable training on the tourism industry. The General Workshop took place from 9 am to 11 am and the Tour Operator Workshop from 11 am to 1pm.

The training workshop is in keeping with the theme of Service Excellence that the ABTA and also Ministry of Tourism continues to promote. Topics covered were ‘The roles of ports, destinations, tour operators and other key players in the success of a destination’s cruise industry’; ‘The cruise lines’ expectations from a port of call and how the destination measures up’; ‘How shore excursions work, and how the cruise industry operates tours’; and ‘The best ways to provide excellent customer service for independent guests.’

General Workshop participants listen intently to presentation made by Beth Kelly Hatt of Aquila

At the conclusion of the Aquila Shore Excellence Training Workshop, over 200 individuals were rewarded with a Certificate of Participation in Shore Excellence. With this training certification, service professionals will be able to hone their skills to ensure maximum visitor satisfaction. It also provides an opportunity for tourism stake holders to see what aspects of the tourism product requires improvement to maximize cruise passenger arrivals and satisfaction.

The workshop is the second step in the ABTA's Service Excellence Initiative, with the first being the recently concluded ABTA-sponsored scholarships for the Service Ambassador Certificate Programme at the Antigua & Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute (ABHTI). Nine St. John’s Development employees recently completed the Certificate Programme which covered ‘Introduction to Tourism/Hospitality Industry,’ ‘Know My Island’ and ‘Quality Customer Care.’

The ABTA Service Excellence Initiative follows on from the Ministry of Tourism’s Service Excellence scheme, which has the theme of ‘Give it, Live it, Celebrate it’ [– Service Excellence.]

CEO of the ABTA, Mr. Colin James commended the effort by both entities to improve the tourism product. He added, “Our people are the most integral aspect of marketing our destination. The face-to-face interaction between tourists and locals still plays a significant role in promoting a destination, even more so when this interaction can be an informed one because individuals have been trained to give consummate service. No matter how beautiful the beaches are, the people who live here must radiate and reflect the beauty and goodness of the island to maintain the twin-island nation’s tourism product.”

Newly-certified employees of The Rendezvous Company pose with Mr. Nathan Dundas, President of Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association and  Colin C.  James, CEO of Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority

Marketing Manager of the ABTA, Charmaine Spencer noted, “The ABTA has a vested interest in empowering all Antiguans and Barbudans. Hence, we saw this as an opportunity to better equip interested persons with a tangible tool that they could take into the community. Service, more importantly, customer service plays such a pivotal role in dealing with visitors to our shores that we at the ABTA decided it was important to provide this opportunity to obtain service certificates for persons who are actively involved or interested in becoming involved in the hospitality industry.”