9th May 2019
Saint Lucia’s Cruise Tourism Enhanced
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By SLTA
CASTRIES, Thursday, May 09, 2019 - Two hundred and sixty-one (261) frontline officers are better equipped in international customer service skills, following a two-day certified training exercise on May 7 and 8, 2019 facilitated by the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Ministry of Tourism, Invest Saint Lucia and the Saint Lucia Air & Sea Ports Authority.
In an effort to ensure continuous enhancement of Saint Lucia’s Cruise Tourism Product, International Business Development Manager, Claudine Pohl of Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence trained the officers who ranged from tour guides, taxi and tour operators, cruise agencies, immigration, port police and the health sector.
The training development Programme focused on areas of the greatest impact on tourism and the cruise industry, community and partnerships, service excellence, cultural do’s and don’ts, creating product experiences, managing difficult situations, managing and minimizing risk, creating a culture of excellence and exceeding expectations.
“This training is about reinventing ourselves and becoming better ambassadors for Saint Lucia.,” said Minister with Responsibility for Tourism, Dominic Fedee. “It all begins with the first impression and we appreciate the need to surpass our current abilities and to do much better than we are.”
Senior Marketing Manager at the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Jackie Mathurin said; “With upward trends in cruise, our aim is to ensure that visitor experiences are enhanced across the industry, and what better way to do so than through the people who interact with them directly.”
The call for continuous training of this nature shows the need to improve the quality of that service and in an effort to ensure that frontline personnel are adopting the best practices taught, evaluations will be conducted.
Saint Lucia’s cruise industry recorded 13.6% growth in 2018 and projections for growth in 2019 are estimated at 6-7% over 2018.
For more information about Saint Lucia, visit www.stlucia.org
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