LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN

Noivember 2013

We are already into November and very soon, our industry will hit the busiest holiday season in the year. Christmas and New Year can be tipping points in terms of people traffic, business volumes and the increased load on your resources.

This month, I’d like to share a few thoughts on people and resource management during the most celebrated holiday season in the year. Especially if your resort is outside the network of AIRDA member resorts.

• If you look at the festive and vacation calendar, there is usually a peak in customer feedback – both good and bad – during Christmas and the New Year. And this is understandable because of the people traffic that happens during this season.
• It helps to be better prepared by organizing orientation sessions for the team – especially those who come into contact with customers. These sessions could focus on tackling workloads and the need to be extra helpful, polite and courteous.
• You may also want to buffer your work force to handle overloads. From what I have seen, an extra pair of hands can be very useful - with all that merriment in the air and the spirits flowing.
• Another measure in place could be quick access to senior level people in your resort – who can step in when something goes wrong. At a time like this, it is important to nip small issues in the bud, and not let them get out of hand.
• I have also found it useful to maintain a simple log book recording what went right and what went wrong during the peak season. This will be extremely useful in training programs and the following year’s activity roll out.
• Please monitor all processes linked to bookings and customer requests. It’s important that back-end operations stay accurate and up to date - this is the life line of customer support and satisfaction.
• From another point of view, it’s a good time to test your resilience as a quality resort and showcase your strengths and plus points. When satisfied customers say something nice, the word gets around. And nice things said about your resort will only add up in your favor.
• There’s another thing I’d like to draw your attention to during this end-of- year festive season. The volume of customers sharing content on social media sites is at its optimum and they could be saying nice things about your resort.  There’s a lot of mileage you can gain out here.
• I have also seen an increase in the number of new customer leads post December. I’m talking about hard-working customer referrals that can generate positive responses. But I guess this is something you can tackle when the New Year festivities taper off.

B. S. Rathor
Chairman, AIRDA