Final Blog - Course Evaluation Exercise

Course Evaluation Exercise

Part One

The assignment that had the greatest impact on me was definitely the Cultural Awareness Assignment.  I chose this assignment not only because it was a large part of our lives for awhile but also because before having that assignment I never would have taken into consideration how much we have to adapt to peoples needs to make a good impression.  I learned that the amount of preparation before meeting a person would, or should, far out way the actual time spent with that person.

I could apply this to a career in tourism because this doesn’t just apply to having business meetings with people from foreign countries but also could apply to people in our own countries.  We all come from various diverse cultures and were all raised differently therefore our expectations for customer service and behavior in general can be extremely different.  In any situation you should be aware of who you are with and be sensitive to their culture or mindset.

Part Two

The part of the self-evaluation where it says “I genuinely enjoy working with and for other people” is definitely where I have improved upon the most.  Before I looked at my job as more of a speed bump in my life but now I look at it in a more positive light.  Of course there are still bad days but I can honestly say since I’ve started this course I find myself laughing more with guests at work and enjoying the smiles I put on people’s faces.

I definitely could improve on looking for ways to anticipate my customer’s needs.  I tend to have tunnel vision when I’m in a hurry or if work is busy, therefore I don’t always see what they need or read the guest properly.  I have improved on this a bit but I’d like to find a way to ignore some of the other pressing issues that are going on outside of helping that guest.

As a customer I feel more understanding if things go wrong but at the same time if I get treated inappropriately or if something is just not acceptable I will be more tentative to that issue now than I was before.  As well I will more likely tell someone of that issue than I would have before.

Everything you do in life involves some form of a positive attitude.  This is especially true in terms of people’s careers.  No matter what career you have you need to have a positive attitude, if not, you won’t go very far.  A career in tourism is pretty much based on how you present yourself because more often than not first impressions could make or break the business.  I’m not sure exactly what I plan to go into but event managing is definitely one of my priorities and to have a positive attitude with customers would be integral in making that event something spectacular, just like they’ve dreamed of.