For Immediate Release

Contact: Judi Window, Managing Director
Phone: 603-621-0638
E-Mail: Jwindow@nhgsa.com

HOSPITALITY TRAINING CLASS BEING HELD

LAKEPORT, NH —The GSA Training program will hold a two-day training session for volunteers and tourism industry employees on May 23 & 24 from 9am-4pm at Lake Opechee Inn & Spa 62 Doris Ray Court Lakeport, New Hampshire. The fee to participate is $35.00 and includes lunch both days. Training is provided by Granite State Ambassadors, Inc. (GSA, Inc). Participants will explore the skills and resources needed to meet and exceed the expectations of guests and residents to the state of New Hampshire.

The goal of the GSA training is to instruct and certify area residents and industry professionals in the art of tourism hospitality. Students are trained in quality customer service techniques and the use of New Hampshire information brochures, maps and pamphlets. Tourism experts from across the state also participate as guest speakers.

Annually, thousands of travelers visit New Hampshire and GSAs are often the first people to meet them when they enter Visitor and Information Centers across the region. GSAs are enthusiastic residents of the region and its towns who love to share their first hand knowledge of restaurants, museums, accommodations, and attractions. They are also experts in giving travelers directions. GSAs are able ‘to meet or exceed the informational need’ of any person requiring travel or visitor information.

There are many opportunities to work or volunteer at visitor contact points around the state. Official GSA Centers are located in Alton Bay, Amherst, Antrim, Concord, Hooksett, Hampton Beach, Manchester, North Woodstock, Salem, Seabrook, Keene, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Hillsborough, and Waterville Valley. Tell a friend, train together and double the fun of becoming a GSA! -- For information or to sign-up for the training go to www.nhgsa.com or contact Judi Window at 603-621-0638.
 
Award winning Granite State Ambassadors, Inc. trains both residents and employees who staff front line visitor centers supporting New Hampshire’s Tourism Industry to meet and exceed the information needs of guests who work, live and visit New Hampshire. Since 1996 GSAs have given over 120,000 hours of volunteer service providing personal assistance to over millions of guests visiting New Hampshire.

Granite State Ambassadors, Inc., founded in 1996, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable organization that partners with hundreds of tourism related businesses including our key partners, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development. We work closely with federal, state, city, and private organizations like White Mountain National Forest, NH State Parks, NH Fish & Game, City of Manchester, and many local and regional associations and chambers of commerce.

In today’s competitive environment on-going training is key to personal and professional success. Training allows us to identify our own strengths and weaknesses, improve on them, and develop a wider range of technical, business, and people skills. With leaner staffs, organizations demand more well-rounded employees and appreciate the efforts of volunteers within the work environment. Effective, continuous training is the way for you to stay on top. Granite State Ambassadors is a fun and effective way to incorporate on-going training into the work environment and keep NH Hospitality and the importance of tourism on the minds of your frontline workers. “We are working together, as an industry, to strengthen our ability to meet and exceed the informational needs of our guests visiting New Hampshire,” said Judi Window, Managing Director. “It’s important for our front line people to understand how vital tourism is to this state, and equally important for New Hampshire’s tourism industry to understand how vital their support is to the our front line workers and volunteers. We want to do everything we can to make sure that those who greet our guests, whether volunteers or employees, are not only well trained but are supported by the industry in their daily endeavors.

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The Lakes Region Association is a non-profit tourism marketing organization that promotes the entire region. The association publishes the Where to! Lakes Region of New Hampshire, a comprehensive guide to the area, and Lakes Region Map and Guide. For a free vacation package call 1-800-60-LAKES.