By Rick Pfeiffer
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
W hitney Mallam knows a little bit about hospitality.
A sixth generation native of the Falls, his family owned and operated the Cataract House, a small hotel that once was located near the entrance to the state park. For three generations his family tended to the hotel and he spent his summers in high school, college and law school working in the park.
“It gets in your blood to say hello to folks,” Mallam said. “Ask them how their doing, where they’re from, do they need directions.”
So it’s only natural Mallam would volunteer to join about 65 other Falls folks in the city’s Greeter Program. The volunteers patrol inside and outside the state park, at the airport, the conference center, summer street events and anywhere else tourists might be.
It is all part of a concerted effort to make coming to the Falls a very hospitable trip.
“It’s to make people feel welcome when they come into our community,” said Louise Yots, the program organizer. “It’s a street program. Instead of just using signs to direct people, we given them personal contact. We appreciate them choosing to come here.”
Mallam says on a good day, he can come into contact with 1,000 people in a three hour shift.
“I love talking to the tourists,” Mallam says.
It’s efforts like those of Mallam, Yots and the other volunteers that brings a smile to the face of Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation President and CEO John Percy.
“We’re trying to put an emphasis on (hospitality),” Percy said. “We need to touch (visitors), educate them (on what is available in the Niagara region) and enhance their experience here.”
In an increasingly competitive tourism marketplace, the hospitality of a region can help set it apart as a destination.
“Hospitality is making people feel welcome whether it’s in your home or at a destination like the falls,” said Angela Berti, regional marketing and public relations coordinator for the state parks department. “Maybe someone has saved their money all their lives to come here, and we need to make (the trip) special.”
Percy says there are multiple components to any hospitality campaign, but the most critical one involves how people in the community interact with visitors.
“That’s what I lie awake worrying about sometimes,” Percy said. “How are our people treating tourists? “It’s extremely important. It should be spelled out in capital letters, everyone here has to be a part of the hospitality experience. We need to be visitor friendly and visitor ready.”
A key part of NTTC’s plans for being visitor ready will be the opening of the city’s new Visitor Center on Rainbow Boulevard in late June.
“It will educate (tourists) on all our product offerings,” Percy said. “Hopefully, it gets them excited to stay an extra hour, an extra day or an extra week.”
The center is a state-of-the-art facility, which will feature lots of plasma TVs and information rails with graphics outlining all there is to do in the Niagara region. There won’t, however, be any interactive offerings.
“First that stuff is very expensive and it keeps them in (the visitor center) too long,” Percy said. “We want them out and doing things, so it’s tease them (with attractions) and get ’em out the door.”
Once the tourists leave the visitor center and make their way into the Falls, that’s when they’ll encounter Yots, Mallam and other greeters.
“We train all the volunteers so they know the attractions and how to get people there.” Yots said. “Some of (the volunteers) are multi-lingual.”
Yots believes giving visitors the opportunity for personal contact in the community shows the “good will” here.
Percy says good will can indeed translate into a good visit and lead to positive “word of mouth” when tourists return home. That kind of marketing is priceless.
“Every experience a visitor has, from the desk clerk at the hotel, to the taxi driver, to the waitress at the restaurant, to the clerk at the drug store, that all adds up,” he said. “Are there enough materials available to show attractions, restaurants, shopping? Maps to show how to get there? The smallest encounter can change a visitors view of the area.”
The NTCC chief is looking, in the future, to offer enhanced customer service training for those who work in the tourism industry here.
“We’ve got to be better at being visitor friendly and visitor ready,” Percy said. “It’s just that important.”
Contact reporter Rick Pfeiffer
at 282-2311, ext. 2252.
