Travelling is exciting but can be stressful. When you are dealing with travellers, you can offer six things
1 A familiar face
2 Help with language
3 A guide/companion
4 A group
5 Food and drink
6 Novelty - entertainment - art, dance, music
7 Their home food or language
8 Listening to feedback
1 A familiar face
Provide a familiar face. Name their role. Or show their expertise.
Angela acting as the Ah Counter in a Toastmasters International speakers' training meeting.
Many hospitals and organizations show the faces of staff on the wall with their name, job title, and expertise
This has several advantages
The person photographed feels important and recognized
You speed up communication - pairing a person with a problem with the person who can fix it
Somebody waiting can pass the time reading the biographies - probably less stress and fewer complaints
Newcomers and visitors feel familiar with the staff, whether staff walk past or have an appointment
Visitors know the status and expertise of staff. Visitors don't waste time telling a long story to a receptionist - unless they just want a listening ear. Visitors feel flattered and appreciative if passed to a senior person.
The receptionist should smile at newcomers. Look up and nod when somebody approaches, even if busy speaking to someone else.
If there is a long queue at reception, indicate the length of the wait. Or redirect those with a quick query such as where is the restaurant.
Have signs dealing with familiar queries. Have a building map on reception and by lifts and escalators. I have waited ten minutes at a hospital reception just to ask, which way is Ward 10, or the x ray department, or where can we park.
Have a multi-language translation under glass on reception so a visitor can point to FAQ. For example, where is the toilet, where is the restaurant, I need coffee, I want to book a room, I need a porter for suitcases, I need a luggage trolley, I want to check in, I want to check out, how much is a room, where can we park?
2 Language and Etiquette
Receptionists
A receptionist should if possible speak to the visitor in their own language if that is what they prefer (unless they want to learn the host country's language). Do not speak to somebody in English, then turn to another receptionist and speak in another language. The guest will think that you are being secretive, making rude remarks or giving them a bad room or other bad service.
If anybody complains, thank them for drawing your attention to the problem. Tell them what can be done and how to fix it.
Your magazine or address card could give the letters of the alphabet in Cyrillic (a walking tour in Bulgaria did this). Or a phrase book in your inflight magazine. (I saw this on a package holiday flight on a low cost airline.)
Employees
Language lessons for wives. This is offered by the Japanese. membership of a local club or gym to make new friends.
Etiquette guide for expat arrivals. One of the major oil companies sends relocating employees a handy guide to what to do in a new country. For example, In Holland you are expected to invite all the neighbours to your new home to a housewarming. In the USA the real estate agent (in the UK we say estate agent) sends a welcome pack with a map, list of activities for children, the agency fridge magnet
with a calendar and handy phone numbers of hospitals and utilities, and a pack of discount offers at all the fast food places with their addresses marked on a map. (I guess the local business association gets together to fund this.)
A country club can organize a new members' party. List attendance. Anybody overseas who misses it whilst travelling or busy can be invited to another. If they never get to one, when members for a long time they could be invited as a host of a table to be a ambassador.
3 A guide/companion
Some cities have walking tours. They might rely on tips, so you only pay at the end, whatever amount you like. Or the guide could get a kickback from taking the guest to a factory shop or restaurant, or get a free lunch from the restaurant.
4 A group
You can set up groups on Meetup and Facebook. You can run language groups.
5 Food
Free nibbles at happy hour can attract customers. Show guests the restaurant and restaurant menu when they arrive. If your hotel does not serve breakfast, make several suggestions.
6 I stayed at a small hotel in Cambodia. The host booked me into a dinner-dance show on the evening of my arrival day, arranged a week long tuk-tuk (motorbike with passenger cabin), organized our tickets for trips, recommended shops and supermarkets, made our holiday. He got high ratings on Tripadvisor. He also sent us to restaurants near remote temples where we would never have found anywhere if left on our own. We were very pleased.
7 A hotelier told me that he had trouble attracting the Japanese who were his main customers. When he added Japanese style breakfast to his a la carte menu, and as an automatic item for Japanese groups, the business expanded.
8 Feedback forms are useful. Make sure they leave room for both complaints and praise. Don't just ask wide questions without comments such as 'was the food good - rate 1 to 10'. Maybe the breakfast was wonderful but the dinner was dreadful.
Also allow room at the end for any other comments. If you want to reward staff, make sure they have a large badge, an easy to remember name, introduce themselves. Maybe you can keep one member of staff per room. Or put badges on their clothes showing which languages they speak.
