Noche Poética en Moca
sábado, 26 de febrero del 2005
7:00 pm
Carpa de artesanos ubicada justo detras del Museo del Mundillo

** Cualquier persona que haya escrito un poema, tendrá la oportunidad de recitarlo esa noche**

The Nice Tourist

“You know me. I’m a nice tourist. I never complain, no matter what kind of service I get.”

“I’ll go in a restaurant and sit and sit while the waitress gossips with her boyfriend and never bothers to see if my hamburger is ready. Sometimes someone who came in after I did gets my hamburger, but I don’t say a word.”

“If the soup is cold or the cream for the coffee is sour, I’m nice about it.”

“If the service station attendant fails to check my oil or polish the windshield, I don’t even raise my eyebrows.”

“When I go into a store and get surly treatment and lack of sympathy with my browsing around. I don’t make a fuss.”

“When I register at a motel or hotel, I’m thoughtful of the other person. If I get a snooty manager who gets nestled because I want to look at my room before making up my mind, I’m polite as can be. I don’t believe rudeness in return is the answer. You might say I wasn’t raised that way.”

“ And it’s seldom I complain about the poor room service, the broken- down elevator, the leaking bathtub faucet or the television set that doesn’t work. I’ve found that people are always disagreeable to me when I do. Life’s to short for indulging in these unpleasant little scrimmages.”

“I never kick. I never nag. I never criticize. I wouldn’t dream of making a scene, as I’ve seen other people do in public places.”

“I’m a nice tourist! I’ll tell you what else I am: I’M THE TOURIST THAT NEVER COMES BACK!”

“That’s my revenge for getting pushed around. That’s why I take whatever they hand out…I know I’m not coming back. It’s true that this doesn’t relieve my feelings right off, but in the long run, it’s a far more deadly revenge.”

“In fact, a nice tourist like me, multiplied by others of my kind, can just about ruin your business. And there are lots of nice tourists in the world. When we get pushed far enough, we go down the street to another restaurant. We eat hamburgers in places that are smart enough to hire help who appreciate nice tourists. Together we do the rude people out of millions of dollars every year.”

“The one who laughs best, they say, is the one who laughs last. I laugh when I see places frantically spending their money just to get me back, when they could have held me in the first place, with a few kind words and a smile.”



Courtesy of the Canadian Tourist Association
and Michigan State University
www.msue.msu.com

Welcome to T.I.P.$.!

Greetings! By Diana Figueroa

Tourism isn’t just a business, it is a way of life. With this in mind we have created T.I.P.$., which means Tourism Is Profitable $ervice. As a community, we are here to serve, educate, promote and provide the best part of ourselves and our culture to those who take the time to visit the island, especially our region. In order to ensure greater success, we must make sure that our service and hospitality are world class, because these are our calling cards.

“Hotels and Restaurants” are not the only things that tourism consists of; there is much more to this industry: from sights to see, beaches to relax in and places to hang out, as well as cultural activities and events to share with your whole family. It also includes all kinds of businesses, from shopping malls to the little old lady in Las Marías who makes alcapurrias in the kiosks I’ve come to call “The Puerto Rican Fast Food Stop”. All of these businesses—both products and services—contribute to the financial growth of our region.

However, most of the weight to make a good impression, and provide exceptional service, does fall on the shoulders of the Hotel and Restaurant portion of our regional economy. For this reason, T.I.P.$. is committed to providing useful ideas and information that will help increase your company’s productivity and profits.

Join us as we explore the benefits and advantages of world class service…by focusing on T.I.P.$.

CREATING MAGICAL SERVICE by Norma Pérez

Do we really know what tourism is? We hear a lot of people in a lot of places talking about “tourism this, tourism that”… But what are we really talking about? In simple words: Tourism is service.

Now, what is service? When we help someone in need, that is service. When we help someone and do it in a friendly way, that is better service. When we go all out to give that person our best level of attention, that is excellent service.

Imagine the following situation: Mr. Schmidt misses his early flight. As a result, he also misses his connecting flight later that day. When he finally arrives at the hotel, he discovers he lost his wallet. The hotel receptionist verifies his reservation, but Mr. Schmidt is no longer found in the system (he doesn’t have a room because his late arrival automatically cancelled his reservation) and to make things worse, the receptionist has no idea what to do.

Tourism is service and service has three moments:

The Moment of Misery

The Moment of Truth

The Moment of Magic

When we have a tourist in a situation like Mr. Schmidt’s, we have the opportunity to analyze what excellent service is:

The Moment of Misery: Mr. Schmidt missed his flights and no longer has a reservation at the hotel.

The Moment of Truth: The receptionist books a room for him and helps him deal with the need to cancel credit cards, bank cards, etc.

But for Mr. Schmidt, the most important moment will be the Moment of Magic, that extra unexpected attention that will put a positive spin on his bad day. The receptionist books a him a better room (one was available) than what Mr. Schmidt had originally reserved and she has a small fruit basket placed in it. She offers him a free cocktail in the hotel restaurant and even gives him a discount good for his next stay at the hotel.

What do you think will happen? Mr. Schmidt goes home raving to his family, friends and colleagues about the excellent service he received and urges all of them to stay at that same hotel when they travel.

Good News People

CREATE GOOD NEWS PEOPLE by Diana Figueroa

Now that we have the internal and foreign tourists visiting Puerto Rico or our region, how do we make sure their stay is enjoyable and worthwhile? *Service *and *Hospitality.* After all, what’s the use of having people come visit us, if they leave with a negative impression of their stay here? Because tourists spend much of their visit enjoying the climate, shopping, sightseeing and interacting with many businesses, it is important for everyone to get involved in giving great service.

Word of mouth is the best promotion your business and region can receive. Every person that you provide service for will speak to an average of ten people. Those ten people will pass along the information to ten more people and so on. Before you know it hundreds of people will have formed an opinion of your business based solely on the experience of somebody they probably don’t even know. The more “good news people” you can create, the higher your chances for long term growth.

The following are a few guidelines for you and your employees that will be helpful in giving a good impression, thus ensuring that the word of mouth promotion you receive benefits your company’s productivity:

Greet every guest with a smile, and make eye contact: By appearing to be cheerful (even if you’re not feeling it) you make yourself more approachable to the customer, and eye contact is an acknowledgement that you are aware of their presence.

Refer to your client using their name (if you know it): If you don’t know their name, use Sir, Miss, or Ma’am when speaking to them. Everybody likes to feel needed and appreciated. I know, you can’t possibly memorize the names of every customer you’ve ever had, but there are always those frequent clients or visitors that stand out for one reason or another. Learn their names and let them know that their continued support is important for your company. Remember, they are the people who keep coming back to invest time and money. They will become your “good news people”.

Provide Options: Be attentive to the needs of your customers and provide options that will make their stay more pleasant. Whether it be a more comfortable room, a place to visit or shop at, something to purchase or a meal to eat, taking interest in your client is a way of ensuring a follow up visit (and the tips aren’t bad either).

The better the service you provide, the more “good news people” you create. Providing good service benefits not only the company, but the employee that offers it. The best product to sell is yourself, be sure to get a full price!

Great Idea for a Small Hotel

A Time to Share by Norma Pérez

Rebecca owns an 11-room bed & breakfast in northwest Florida, the panhandle rough edge of a state with world-renowned attractions far to the south. In 2003, Rebecca’s little hotel registered 91% occupancy…all year. On average, she had 10 of her 11 rooms filled every day of the week. In a region with several competitors (including chain hotels), no major theme parks, no unique natural wonders, no large cities and boasting a room rate in the $90-110 range, how does she do it?

Tea.

Every afternoon, from 4:00 to 5:15, Rebecca dons elegant dresses and serves tea in her hotel’s “parlor,” a comfortable room with several armchairs, two settees (“I never use the word ‘sofa’”) and four polished mahogany tables. A large silver tea setting gleams brightly in the sunny room, casting reflections on a small array of biscuits, crackers, cookies and finger sandwiches. Every guest is invited to drink tea, enjoy the finger food and talk to Rebecca and each other. No TV, no radio, no music, just marvelous tea and conversation.

The entire experience costs the guests nothing, but they wouldn’t trade it for anything as they comeback to share it again and again. “I now know when certain people are coming to my hotel,” says Rebecca, “Because we’ve talked so much, they’re like family. And when they come back, they bring one or two more people. Next year, I may add some rooms!” However, thinking about the warmth and sharing she and her guests enjoy, she adds “But then, I’d have to stop serving tea because of the noise and dust.” She shakes her head. “My guests are happy with what I have now. And that makes me happy, too.”

La Promoción Más Efectiva

CREA PERSONAS DE BUENAS NOTICIAS por Diana Figueroa

Ahora que tenemos a nuestros turistas internos y extranjeros visitando a Puerto Rico o nuestra región, ¿cómo aseguramos que su estadía sea la más placentera y provechosa? Con nuestro servicio y hospitalidad. ¿De qué nos sirve que vengan a visitarnos si la impresión con la cual regresan a su lugar de origen es negativa? La gran parte del tiempo que el turista pasa aqui disfruta del sol, de excursiones y visitando distintos negocios y comercios. Por esta razón, es importante que todo el mundo tome parte en dar un excelente servicio, no importa cuan pequeña pueda ser tu empresa.

La mejor promoción que tu negocio o región puede disfrutar es la palabra hablada de persona en persona, o sea, una recomendación directa. Cada persona a que le brindes servicio hablará con un promedio de diez personas. Esas diez hablarán con diez más y asi sucesivamente. Llegará el momento que cientos de personas han formado una opinion de un lugar basándose en la experiencia de alguien que tal vez ni conocen. Por tal razón, mientras más “personas con buenas noticias” puedas crear, más alto el crecimiento a largo plazo de tu negocio y región.

A continuación, algunas técnicas útiles para compartir con empleados y compañeros. Las mismas ayudarán a brindar un mejor servicio, creando una mejor imagen de su compañia y promoviendo mayor productividad en su empresa:

Recibe a cada huésped/cliente con una sonrisa.Haz contacto visual: Aunque no te estés sintiendo animado, siempre debes de sonreir. Esto te hace más accesible a la persona a la cual atiendes. También es bueno hacer contacto visual, ya que de esta manera reconoces la presencia de tu cliente.

Utiliza el nombre de tu cliente(si lo sabes) cuando te dirijes hacia él o ella: Si no lo sabes, utilice “caballero”, “Sra.”, “Sr.”, “Srta.” o “joven”. A todos nos gusta sentirnos apreciados. Sé que es imposible recordar los nombres de todos los clientes que atendemos, pero siempre hay un grupo de personas que sobresalen y pasan a formar parte de nuestro diario vivir. Estos clientes frecuentes son los que más aportan al éxito de nuestra compañia. Además de invertir su tiempo y dinero en nosotros, dan su apoyo hablando positivamente de las experiencias vividas mientras nos visitan.

Provee opciones: Bríndale opciones a tus huéspedes/clientes que hagan su visita más placentera y memorable. Ya sea ofreciéndole una habitación más cómoda, algún lugar que ver o visitar, una comida distinta o artículo para llevar de recuerdo. Mostrar interés y tener detalles con tu cliente es una manera asegurada de una segunda visita (y las propinas no vienen mal tampoco).

Mientras mejor sea el servicio que se brinde, más “personas con buenas noticias” crearás. Al ofrecer un servicio superior no sólo se beneficiará la compañia, el empleado tambien se beneficiará. El mejor producto que puedes vender eres TU...¡asegura conseguir el mejor precio!

El Momento de Magia

CREANDO SERVICIO MAGICO por Norma Pérez

¿Sabemos realmente lo que es el turismo? Escuchamos por todas partes que la gente habla de turismo aquí, turismo allá… ¿Pero de qué se trata esto? Pues en palabras sencillas: Turismo es servir.

Ahora, ¿qué es servicio? Cuando ayudamos a alguien que lo necesita, eso es servicio. Cuando lo ayudamos tratándolos bien, eso es un mejor servicio. Cuando nos excedemos en atenciones eso es un servicio excelente.

Imagine la siguiente situación: El Sr. Schmidt perdió el vuelo en el cual debía salir temprano. Eso trajo como consecuencia que también perdiera su vuelo de conección. Cuando por fin llegó al hotel reservado, descubrió que se le había perdido la cartera. La recepcionista del hotel le verifica su reservación, pero el Sr. Schmidt no aparece en el sistema (porque el atraso del vuelo cambió su hora de llegada) y para colmo la recepcionista no sabe qué hacer.

El turismo es servir, y el servicio tiene tres momentos:

1-El Momento de Miseria

2-El Momento de Verdad

3-El Momento de Magia

Cuando tenemos a un turista como el Sr. Schmidt, tenemos la oportunidad de analizar lo que es un servicio excelente.

Su Momento de Miseria: perdió sus vuelos y ya no tiene reservación de hotel.

Su Momento de la Verdad: se hace la gestión para su reservación de hotel y se le ayuda a lidiar con la situación de su cartera perdida (tarjetas de crédito, tarjetas bancarias, etc.)

Pero para el Sr. Schmidt lo más importante será el Momento de Magia, que será aquella atención especial que aliviará el mal sabor de su mala experiencia. La recepcionista del hotel le consigue una habitación mejor que la que él pidió (había una disponible) y le envía una pequeña canasta de frutas cortesía del hotel. Le obsequia con un coctel de bienvenida en el restaurante del hotel, luego de que descanse de su viaje. Más le ofreció una habitación con descuento para su próxima visita.

¿Qué creen que va a suceder? El Sr. Schmidt regresó a su hogar hablándole a sus familiares, colegas y conocidos de lo bien que fue atendido e invitó a que fueran a esa hospederia cuando viajaran la próxima vez.

Todos los turistas que recibimos merecen un momento de magia y más que nada un servicio de excelencia. No debemos conformarnos con atenderlos bien, sino que debemos ir más allá de un buen servicio y hacer que ese turista se sienta como en su casa.

Actividades febrero

Festival de Chiringas y Tiguero en Lajas
a celebrarse del 18 al 20 de febrero


Exposición de Productos y Servicios Relacionados a la Industria del Turismo
jueves, 24 de febrero del 2005
9:30 am hasta 1:00 pm
Instituto de Banca y Comercio de Moca (frente al Westernbank)

Noches de Lelolai
Jueves 9-10 pm en el Mayaguez Resort and Casino

Festival del Acabe del Café

Plaza Pública Maricao
viernes 18, sábado 19 y domingo 20 de febrero

Dramatizaciones, Artesanos, Payasos, Música, Concursos y mucho más.

viernes 18:

9:30 pm- Victoria Sanabria
11:00 pm- Victor Manuel Reyes
12:00 am- Plena Libre

sábado 19:

8:00 pm- Andres Jimenez
10:00 pm- Mariano Cotto
11:00 pm- Caobana

domingo 20:

7:30- Cantares de Mi Tierra
9:00 pm- Familia Sanabria y Niños Trovadores
11:00pm- Roy Brown
12:00 am- Plenealo


** Se prohibe el uso de neveras portatiles en la actividad **


:oDD

Taller: Como se Muestra la Cultura en el Turismo

jueves, 17 de febrero de 2005
Instituto de Banca y Comercio de Mayagüez
9 am a 11:30 am
Entrada General $15.00
Profesores y estudiantes debidamente identificados entran gratis

Marketing Essentials

Marketing Tips for T.I.P.$. by Area Zoom Marketing

Marketing is everything you do to communicate what your company is, from greeting clients to advertising around the world.

The most effective marketing is personal and well within your control: the quality of your premises, your level of service and the way you treat your clients.

The most useful marketing is that which positions you as unique and singular. Find that quality—or those qualities—that no else has or offers. If you can’t find anything, you can create them. The only limit is your imagination.

Marketing is a constant process and depends on feedback from many people. Remember to ask for that feedback, listen to it, weigh it objectively and use what you think is valuable.

Marketing is an investment made to sustain and expand the image and reputation of your company. Everything you do that affects your company’s image and reputation is a marketing investment and should be treated that way to achieve the maximum benefit.

Marketing expresses the passion you feel for your business and the service you offer. If you don’t feel great passion for this, find someone who does to coordinate and supervise marketing. Enthusiasm is contagious and produces amazing results.

Don't let Marketing fall into the "Unused" category of your business matrix. It's the best tool you have for showing the world your very best.