Adirondackers have always had a love-hate relationship with tourism and the entire hospitality industry.<\/p>\n
And it’s an ambivalence that all too often we carry just below the surface.<\/p>\n
The other day I walked into a tourism business — I won’t say which one or where — and the person behind the desk didn’t look up.<\/p>\n
The person kept doing paperwork. Not a nod, not a raised finger, not a “Be with you in just a minute.” Silence.<\/p>\n
Curious, I decided to wait, saying nothing, to see how long the standoff might last.<\/p>\n
Honestly, it wasn’t very long. Twenty seconds maybe?<\/p>\n
But in the hospitality biz IGNORING someone for twenty seconds is risky.<\/p>\n
Finally, the person looked up at me and smiled and helped me with what I needed. But the impression had been made.<\/p>\n
I wouldn’t mention this anecdote if it weren’t an experience that I have far more often than is healthy for our regional economy.<\/p>\n
For better or worse, pampering outsiders is a big part of what we do here. We offer them an escape from their everyday, urban, sharp-elbowed lives.<\/p>\n
We are, to some extent, creating an illusion. A fantasy that in this gorgeous, rustic place people are just a little bit nicer, a little bit more warm and welcoming.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, that kind of experience is something tourists and second homeowners are willing to pay a lot for. As in, billions of dollars in visitor and real estate dollars.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the deal means we have to put our game-faces on. We have to pretend, even on bad days, that we’re happy to help, eager to please, ready to make a new friend.<\/p>\n
My instinct is that we need to get better at this.<\/p>\n
We need to offer better soft-skills training to local workers.<\/p>\n
We need to find ways to offer pay and benefits that keep our workers healthy and happy enough that they can pass on the love.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, people will go elsewhere — Vermont? New Hampshire — to get their fix of the good life.<\/p>\n
A lot of Adirondack businesses are hiring foreign kids, perky souls willing to work for peanuts, but that strikes me as unsustainable and kind of an admission of failure.<\/p>\n
If we’re to be a tourism destination, our people have to be part of it.<\/p>\n
So what do you think? Should we learn to make nice? Are you a tourism entrepreneur struggling to keep a a smile on your face?<\/p>\n
Comments welcome below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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