THE Guyana Tourism Authority, in preparation for “Guyana Restaurants Week”, from November 18 to 27, last week conducted a Customer Services training programme for Waiters and Waitresses from several restaurants located in and around Georgetown.

Held at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown the response was phenomenal and attracted male and female staff from the 19 restaurants enlisted for the event, and others not participating.

Director of the GTA, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh who delivered the feature address said that the GTA is very committed to training and capacity building, concurring with Senior Production Manager, Kamrul Baksh that the GTA is mandated to provide training for the sector.

Tourism Month is celebrated during the November and for the month so far, Baksh said, more than 700 persons were trained in various areas. The next set of persons to be trained will be speed boat operators, (specifically targeting speedboat operators from Bartica), taxi drivers, as well as front desk staff.

Stressing the importance of training for the customer service providers working in restaurants, Haralsingh said that such persons – specifically waiters and waitresses can influence a customer’s perception, their loyalty and ultimately the company’s profitability.

To the participants, he stressed: “You play a very important role in your business, serving guests …and I hope that today’s training will serve to reinforce knowledge and skills that you would have already developed.”

He said that while they will be given certificates at the end of the training, that is not the be all and the end all, and it is important that they demonstrate the skills that they would have learnt when they go back to their workplaces.

Importantly, the GTA Manager drew the attention of the participants to what has become a reality – when persons go to restaurants of which they have high expectations and are disappointed.

“When they have to wait for long periods for the food is bad, or in other ways they are not satisfied with the service, they are now taking to Facebook where they make their concerns known.”

The Guyana Tourism Association has zero tolerance for rude or impolite service, and urged the participants to uphold the very high standards which they would have been taught during the training programme, and Mr. Haralsingh cautioned them: “You are the face of your establishment. Customers see you, they do not see the managers or owners, so much devolves on you; A lot will be expected of you, and remember, use restaurant week to do your best, because the restaurants depend on the patronage of guests or customers who come in.”