Duluth workers encouraged to create ‘magical moments’ for visitors
May 28, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Employees in Duluth’s hospitality industry are at the front line for frequently asked questions from out-of-towners during the prime tourism months.
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Pipe in “It’s a Small World” and put on the Mickey ears.
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Ahhh. A professional cynic.
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There’s no doubt retail work is hard for many people. We spent the holiday weekend on the south shore and met great people at shops and restaurants in Bayfield, Port Wing, Corny and other places. Iron River was another story. It’s too bad because those shops that do a good job are hurt by those that don’t as we tend to think of our experiences by area or town. Ultimately the customer gives us our paycheck, something we often forget.
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Whenever I see someone looking quisitively around I always walk up to them and ask if I can help them find something… they are most often tours, most often looking for Grandma’s or Glensheen and are always happy to get help from a local.
Tourism is important to our economy and making guests feel welcome goes a long way to bolster the local economy. Those who feel welcomed will want to come back time and time again…and bring friends with them.
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@Duluthvoice You make a good point; I remember an experience I had while visiting Sydney, Australia. Whenever I would open a map while walking down the sidewalk downtown looking for where I wanted to go, it wouldn’t take longer than a minute or two and some Aussie would ask me where I was headed or what I was looking for (before google maps and smart phones). It just made for a better experience for me and really made you feel welcome in the city. (this was helped by the fact that the CBD in sydney has a lot of foreign travelers). Nonetheless, all of us are stewards at some point in looking after our visitors and city…
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Thinking”outside the box” to use a clique, let’s build a ‘zip-line’ out to the concrete thing in the lake, or if that’s too risky, make a ‘swinging bridge’ to it to be used only during tourist season. We could use the old cables from the MInnesota Slip bridge.
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“As in, “If you don’t like your job, at least you have a job,” McConnell said. “If you don’t like a customer, at least you aren’t married to him.”
What a crock. The terrorists who come to Duluth and treat retail/food industry people like crap do so because they know they can almost always get away with it. I can’t count how many times one would come into wherever I was working, ask how to get somewhere, I take the time to explain, and they’d go “WELL! That’s not what my map/GPS said!”
Then the answer was easy. “OOOOOOOOOH, that mall! Oh, you go east on 4th Street, keep going past the high school…”
The other big thing I noticed was big-city people talking down to coworkers. I always loved dealing with that.
It’s one thing to be respectful, but once someone crosses the line into just plain nasty, then the consequences are on them.
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As a Duluth-born Torontonian, I have to add a few things here regarding our similarities to Duluth (and Minnesota), what tourists expect and what they really get. To put it plainly, it ain’t good.
People often come to Duluth or Toronto and expect this stereotypical accent, overly polite people, multiculturalism and an air of nonjudgment (at least in Toronto) but after arriving, are upset to find this isn’t at all the melting pot they had envisioned. The people in our tourism commercials and print ads are models who do represent a multicultural city, but in truth, hospitality workers often speak little English and human have an off-putting attitude (which could’ve been perfectly normal in their home country) but then after reading pages and pages of irate tourists’ reviews of Toronto (rude immigrants, con artists, being nickeled and dimed for everything; no ‘thank you’ or ‘come again’). This is the result of hiring people willing to work the most for very little, naturally they’re not happy nor are they having as much fun as the tourists are.
In Duluth, it’s a somewhat similar story, but without the language/cultural barrier. Many who work in hospitality are in Duluth because they either love the city and that’s the only job they can find, or they are in Duluth because they can’t afford to live anywhere else. Nevertheless, Internet review sites of traveller’s experiences can literally make the difference as to whether you’ll be working there next year. All it takes is one forgotten towel, one misunderstanding, etc., and suddenly the web reviews start flowing in.
We are lucky to live in our cities on the Great Lakes. People are curious about them and in my experience (both Duluth and Toronto) have done a great job building up the lakefronts, hiking trails, stuff to do for kids. I just keep in mind that no matter who asks me for help, I in some small way represent this city. I’ve been lost in unfamiliar downtowns myself, and can empathize with people who need directions repeated, or don’t get why north and south are really east and west, etc…have a good summer and smile!
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Other great ways to encourage Duluth workers to treat customers better:
– Pay them more than $8/hour.
– Offer better incentives than a 25 cent raise every year.
I mean, c’mon business owners. Don’t you remember learning about incentives in Econ 101? Us workers how much money goes through Duluth businesses. This isn’t Superior, after all.
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And all but the last couple of posters wonder just why Daloot is broke?
Face it, if yer enonomy is pretty much based on tourism, and you call them ‘terrorists’ and generally treat the tourists badly, just why are you whining about being broke?
The one big draw that Daloot had going was the casino, and now Daloot’s blown that one.
Anyone up there ever hear the story about the goose that laid the golden eggs?
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What did Duluth blow with the Casino? Its still going strong and probably doing better since all the free publicity! LOL! How about sending them to that old book store kitty corner from the casino that says Duluth’s largest tourist attraction then after they can’t get in there they can walk up to pay homage to the burned out Kozy get panhandled and stop for a free meal at Union Gospel! Also if the hotel prices are too high they can stay at Mikiten’s or CHUM! LOL!
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