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Hospitality Training By Thomas E. Van Hyning and Caria Rich The Governor's Statewide Task Force on Recreation and Tourism issued its final report in May 1987. A major recommendation was to develop a hospitality training program. In response to this mandate, the Office of Leisure Research (OLR) at Southern Illinois Illinois University - Carbondale's Recreation Department prepared a hospitality training manual entitled Giving Visitors a Southern Illinois Welcome. A regional travel guide called Five Great Southern Illinois Corridor Tours was included in the text. Both sections were funded under the Illinois' Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' (DCCA's) Corridors of Opportunity Program. Corridors of opportunity Illinois' Corridors of Opportunity Program, enacted in 1986, earmarked $2.5 million in Fiscal Year 1987 to fund statewide projects, ranging from riverfront development to the promotion of automobile manufacturing sites. Three recreation and tourism corridors the Lake Michigan shoreline, Route 20 from Rockford to Galena, and southern Illinois were designated under this program. Corridor councils in these regions have been encouraged to focus on their recreation and tourism assets, and to work in partnership with the State to actively promote and market their resources. Southern Illinois' Corridor Council, the Southern Illinois Coalition, covers the State's southernmost 20 counties. Travel and tourism grants endorsed by the Coalition in Fiscal Year 1987 ranged from building Ohio River flatboats in Hardin and Pope Counties to funding the OLR Hospitality Training Manual and Regional Travel Guide. Hospitality training manual Giving Visitors a Southern Illinois Welcome focused on three critical ideas: 1.) identifying an audience for the materials, 2.) writing measurable objectives and 3.) choosing efficient teaching strategies to maximize learner success. These were necessary first steps in the design of the educational materials.
Materials were developed for retired senior citizens who serve as volunteers in visitor contact agencies including parks, welcome centers, museums and other regional attractions. Objectives for the package centered on developing hospitality skills, and informing participants about visitor attractions within and outside their communities. A self-guided workbook with humorous and "chatty" overtones was designed to teach hospitality concepts. Cartoons featuring senior citizens are interspersed in the workbook, and the text's language is conversational, not academic. Additional features of the workbook are meant to optimize learner success. For example, the workbook is self-guided, and a teacher's intervention is unnecessary. Another design feature of the workbook is its print size. Since a large percentage of senior citizens wear corrective lenses, the workbook's type size is slightly enlarged (12 point) to make the text more legible. The workbook includes frequent exercises to supplement the reading and provide opportunities for participantstoshare relevant concepts IllinoisParksand Recreation 15 November/December 1988 pertaining to visitor satisfaction. The workbook enables participants to develop their own travel guide. It asks for names of scenic, historic and recreational attractions which the participants can list and then use in their own volunteer work. This section requires each participant to use the workbook's regional travel guide. Regional travel guide Each of the Five Great Southern Illinois Corridor Tours is structured around a north-south route, generally following a highway or major river system. The French Corridor, for instance, follows the Mississippi River from Prairie Du Rocher to Grand Tower. The Lincoln Corridor takes in Illinois from Mt. Carmel on the Wabash to Cave In-Rock on the Ohio River. The Corridor of Contrasts follows U.S. 51 from Du Quoin to Cairo, while the two interstate corridors I-57 (Mt. Vernon to Marion) and 1-24 (Goreville to Golconda) complete the travel guide. Although Southern Illinois is best known for its outdoor recreational options, this region also has a rich and varied history to supplement its scenery. Contacts were made with 15 area historical society members who provided valuable information for the travel guide. A Gallatin County historian, for example, showed the John Marshall Bank and Home dating to 1816 in Old Shawneetown. This was the first bank in the Illinois Territory, and its officers refused a loan application from a Chicago investment group in the 1830s because, "Chicago was too far away to ever amount to anything." Out-of-the-way eateries, museums and other sites along with mainstream attractions are highlighted along the various routes. The travel guide includes a cornucopia of community festivals celebrating everything from chowder (Albion's Park Chowder Days) to cartoon characters (Popeye's Picnic in Chester). City listings with each tour have a compilation of "what to see and do" side trips, accommodations, restaurants and special events. In some cases, special tours of industrial plants are listed. Travel guides have been distributed to highway welcome centers, State parks, historical societies, bed and breakfast establishments, motels and antique shops. A sense of regional cooperation and teamwork has been achieved by obtaining information from area resources, and then sharing the final product with these persons. Additional information For further information about this project, contact Joseph D. Teaff, Director, Office of Leisure Research, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901. Phone (618) 453-4331.
IllinoisParks and Recreation 16 November/December 1988 |
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