CATERING FOR TRAVEL

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 285, 28 August 1931, Page 8

CATERING FOR TRAVEL

Service in Dominion COURTESY TO CUSTOMER “We hear a great deal about the service given in American hotels, but to some extent It is more talked about than given, said Mr. S. W. M. Stilling, New Zealand representative for the Australian National Travel Association, in speaking at the monthly luncheon of the Wellington Travel Men’s League yesterday. He said that the word “service” was being used with great abandon, and in connection with innumerable slogans. He bad found in travelling in many parts of the world that the term occasionally meant something which was paid for but not obtalMr?‘stilling appealed to all parties identified with the travel business to encourage courtesy to the customer. The first contact with the client was vital. A few words from a surly booking clerk often put the patron in such a critical frame of mind that little that was done m an ensuing trfr> by boat train, or motor was appreciated. ... . . . “I think New Zealand tourist organisation and accommodation service compares very well with that in many other parts of the world,” Mr. Stilling said. “Some people enthuse over foreign waiters, but I think we can find capable men of our own nation in this service in all parts of the Empire.”