Aquila is thrilled to have reached a new milestone! on August 15-17, we had successful three days showcasing representatives from the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and a delegation of 12 people representing 6 Tour Operators from Puerto Rico in Saint John to experience Aquila’s Living Lab and learn our best practices.
This is the first time that a cruise destination has brought a delegation to Aquila’s Living Lab, and we are particularly excited to have welcomed the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and their Tour Operators. For the last 10 years, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company has been working with Aquila on a strategy that includes ongoing training for their Frontlines, Tour Guides, Tour Operators and Service Providers.
This approach has proven very successful for the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, as Crystal Bell, Air and Cruise Access Director, recently explained: “For almost a decade, our fruitful partnership with Aquila has been a cornerstone to ensure service excellence in Puerto Rico’s cruise industry. The trainings offered by Beth and her amazing team have made a measurable difference: improving our port ratings and bolstering desirability of our destination in the context of the Caribbean, the industry’s most competitive area. We are eager to continue this partnership for years to come.”
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company’s investment in the continuous learning and growth of their tour operators has brought them to this milestone, being the first destination to bring a delegation to Aquila’s Living Lab in the Port of Saint John. Over the course of their 3-day visit, the delegation spent time with the Aquila team to learn their operational practices, see a cruise day in action, participate in an Aquila shore excursion of the Bay of Fundy region, and have a taste of our local culture.
“We’re so excited to showcase our Living Lab and to share the way we operate, in hopes that it will help the Tour Operators in Puerto Rico achieve even greater success in their own businesses and cruise destination,” notes Beth Hatt, Aquila’s founder. “It’s especially fun to have the opportunity to involve our shore excursion operations team in a training program and have them share their expertise,” she adds.
Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence has been providing destination training for the global cruise industry for more than 15 years, offering training strategies and real-world-tested curriculum for international destinations, tour companies, tour guides and front-line operators looking to improve visitor experience through service excellence. Aquila is the industry-preferred destination training provider, having provided training in more than 80 cruise destinations around the world, and Aquila is the exclusive training partner of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association.
P.S. The news was also featured on Seatrade Cruise news and Telegraph Journal. Please see more information below:
Telegraph Journal:
