With the disruption the community is experiencing from the major highway reconstruction project, many of our visitors will have questions and concerns.
Is your business ready to handle all that information in a friendly and positive way? What about if we need to go into fire restrictions this summer? Do you or any of your employees understand the different levels of fire restrictions? What about if we have road closures during the winter months?
Owners, managers and frontline employees are often barraged with tourism questions and, oftentimes, we don’t know the answers. Now is your opportunity to engage yourself and your staff with the proper training, while the businesses and those that are trained can receive some additional benefits besides just becoming more informed.
The Pagosa Springs Tourism Department has created a tourism ambassador program. The highway construction was the catalyst for finally rolling out this community program.
All of our businesses will benefit from getting staff trained. It is critical that we are all communicating the same correct information about so much that happens here in Pagosa, not just about the construction project. And it isn’t just downtown businesses that need to be involved. Many people will stop into the businesses on the west side of town before they even attempt to come downtown. The downtown businesses need the support of the west-side businesses to help drive business to the downtown area. Everyone should be familiar with parking, the shuttle bus services, hours of operation and activities that might be occurring.
How can we help each other? By participating in this community tourism program.
So, what is involved, and what’s in it for you?
As a business owner, by participating in this program and having employees or yourself complete the training, your business will be designated as a Certified Tourism Ambassador Business. You will receive window and electronic decals identifying your business, and you are encouraged to promote your business as a tourism ambassador.
You will receive additional marketing opportunities through the Tourism Department. As for the staff who completes the training, in addition to becoming really smart about what is happening in our community, they will be entered into a monthly drawing for gift cards for the Ambassador of the Month designation. There will be a system designed where fellow employees or the general public who may have engaged your informational services can enter your name into the monthly drawings as having provided great service. We would then like to have a drawing for the tourism ambassador of the year.
To be a qualified ambassador, the participants will need to complete about an hour of training co-hosted by the Tourism Department and the Chamber of Commerce. The participants will then need to complete another one hour of online training through the state’s concierge program. Once these trainings have been completed, the participants will receive a designation.
Even within your organization, these designated ambassadors should be identified and given additional recognition.
How do you sign up to participate?
Interested businesses should contact Jennie Green at sales@visitpagosasprings.com or Mary Jo Coulehan at director@pagosachamber.com.
The in-person trainings will be conducted soon. While many of us in our businesses already answer a lot of tourism-related questions, are you sure you are giving the right answers? Get certified, get some additional benefits for your business and your employees, and let’s be supportive of our entire business community.