Sometimes it seems so easy to simply allow managerial staff to interview prospective employees these days – after all they are management aren’t they? One hopes they are imbued with a clear concept of what the business requires. But what are we, the directors, doing as the visionaries of the business, the leaders of the enterprise, to ensure that we pass on our vision?

The tourism industry – like every other key service industry – needs people who are the right fit. In my book these should be happy people, people with resilience who smile at problematic moments, who seek the best options when things go wrong and who don’t complain or clock-watch. The question is, do we manage to employ for this attitude all the time?

This industry needs industrious people, people who are always looking for the angle that is going to WOW! their guests.  WOW! is a big word, I know – and one that is used often without enough passion – but what would happen if every guest that you deal with leaves with a little something that makes their trip really special? Can you imagine what a catalytic effect this would have on the on-going growth of tourism to this country?  Thus, it is part of our challenge to keep our staff on the lookout for interesting and relevant activities to include in the itineraries they sell. It is simply not enough to just sell the great hotels that we are so privileged to have in our region.  It is also vitally important to introduce and sell to our guests the many wonderful things to DO in our scenic land.

This requires us as an industry to invest in training our people, exposing them to as much as we can, for us as leaders to be constantly curious and also to explore what our fellow citizens are creating.  We have such a diverse creative streak – so many cultures with so much love and warmth to share with the world – so, come on everyone, let’s get the creativity into every one of our people’s hearts, let’s not be lazy and just churn out the norm.  We must encourage existing and new staff to communicate amongst themselves all that they know that could be pertinent to the industry:

• Encourage the visits from sales representatives;
• Learn what they have to offer before judging them; 
• Visit places in our spare time;
• Be a tourist in our own country and cities all the time;  and then
• Take the pleasure of passing this on to your staff, your colleagues and, ultimately, your customers.

Let everyone in on the interesting places that you have just seen.  Some will be challenging; that’s great as well – we all like to be challenged and to stretch our minds, even if we don’t think we do!

Give the world a WOW!, it’s South Africa! Again and again and again!