Jan. 23, 2009 — Although 50 St. Croix taxi drivers have already completed customer service training through the University of the Virgin Islands Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning program, another training session will be offered Monday.
The free three-hour session begins at 6 p.m. at UVI's Great Hall Building, room 134.
"As St. Croix begins to welcome more and more visitors we want to ensure that everyone has the necessary tools to deliver the highest level of service to our guests," Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said in a news release Thursday.
She later said that Monday's training is a direct result of complaints by Disney Cruise Lines about the service its passengers received on a recent visit to St. Croix. Additionally, Nicholson-Doty said there were a few "scattered" complaints from other cruise lines.
"There was a significant amount of concerns related to the taxi industry," Nicholson-Doty said.
Those concerns focused on the taxi drivers' inability to answer frequently asked questions and questions about the destination as well as their knowledge of the tour itself, Nicholson-Doty said.
She also said the Tourism Department received complaints that some stores and restaurants remained closed for all or part of the day. In some cases, she said, restaurants were not adequately staffed.
"And there were complaints that there weren't enough guides at certain places," she said.
As a result of these issues, Disney was forced to refund $13,000 that passengers had paid for tours on St. Croix, Nicholson-Doty said.
The taxi driver training will be held in advance of Disney's next visit on Feb. 3, she said.
St. Croix taxi and tour operator Sweeney Toussaint, who is a member of the V.I. Taxicab Commission, said the entire island of St. Croix, not just the taxi industry, needs to improve its customer service.
"There is a total lack of customer service in many facets of the industry," he said.
While Toussaint he hasn't taken the customer service training, he said it isn't necessary because he has a background in hotel management.
"I'm very clued in about customer service," he said.
He estimated that St. Croix has about 200 to 250 taxi drivers.
The upcoming taxi driver training is part of an ongoing effort to prepare St. Croix residents for the anticipated upswing in the island's tourism industry.
According to Nicholson-Doty, the Tourism Department worked with the taxi industry and its leaders to get the word out about the training.
In November, the Tourism Department and the Economic Development Authority sponsored two days of free customer service training to prepare taxi operators and front line employees for the return of cruise ships. The November training was preceded by a similar customer service seminar held in August at the Preparing the Path Conference, an event sponsored by the two agencies to ready St. Croix for the return of cruise business to the island.
For more information and to pre-register for Monday’s customer service training call UVICELL at 692-4230.
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