Eighty local tourism stakeholders now hold certificates as evidence of their knowledge of Tourism Customer Service Standards.
The men and women successfully graduated from Tourism Refresher Courses facilitated by the Dominica State College on Tuesday.
The training took the form of four separate classes comprising vendors and tour guides.
At the graduation ceremony, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Claudia Bellot briefed the graduates on the impact that their service has on the entire industry.
“Dominica has always been very proud to welcome visitors to our shores, be it cruise passengers or stay over visitors or even our own family and friends who come over to visit. From recent reports however, it has been indicated that some aspects of our service standards have been dropping. I want to urge you as persons who are at the forefront of providing service to the visitors to continue working very hard to raise our ratings and to ensure that we continue to provide excellent service. In many instances you are sometimes the first or the second service providers that they will encounter.”
The graduates accepted their certificates on Tuesday morning at the Public Service Union Conference Room from the Director of Tourism, Colin Piper.
Piper’s advice to the graduates was to make a name for Dominica through their service.
“As a niche market we cannot compete on economies of scale, therefore our comparative advantage needs to be quality and that is why it is important for you to continue to get training but more importantly to deliver that quality service consistently so that you can make a name for your business or service and by extension make a name for the destination.”
Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Dominica State College, Merrill Matthew explained to the graduates why there were specially targeted for the refresher courses.
“I want to remind you that you are very critical to the development of tourism in Dominica, and why is that so? It is because you meet our visitors first and as you know, the same thing that happens when people fall in love it is the same thing that happens when you meet visitors, first impressions are lasting ones. You are very critical to the business of tourism development in Dominica. Therefore, you need to keep refreshing yourselves because unless you keep up with the game, the game will leave you.”
Matthew further stated that the graduation ceremony is a direct result of the partnership between the Discover Dominica Authority and the Dominica State College to improve the local tourism sector.
The Dean said that his role in the effort is fueled by his personal stake in the success of Dominica’s tourism.
“I celebrate, I rejoice and I thank God for those who are doing well and you may be wondering why… it is because my very survival and that of my children depends on tourism in Dominica. I can tell you, unless you make the connection that you are critical and fundamental to tourism development in Dominica, then you are in trouble.”
His final words to the students were a statement of advice to take pride in their work.
The Tourism Refresher Courses took place between September and October of 2012.