City Ambassadors – History and Highlights
City Ambassadors – History and Highlights
Auckland
City’s Ambassador programme is one year old. It was first
mooted in March 1999, and is loosely based on a project from
New York, where previously unemployed city dwellers were
assigned individual street ‘blocks’ to look after.
Each employee was tasked with keeping his or her patch free of litter and graffiti. They also reported crime, and generally put on a friendly face for fellow New Yorkers. The scheme was a big success, and the team became known as the ‘Bob’s’ – after one of the best known and best liked of its members.
With the summer of 1999/2000 being so important to Auckland, the Council – under the leadership of Councillor Victoria Carter - agreed that a similar programme could add a sense of welcome for thousands of expected visitors, and set aside funding for a six-month trial.
The Council found a willing partner for the programme in Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ). Through their ‘Taskforce Green’ initiative, WINZ assist with funding the programme, and by providing potential applicants for the role of Ambassador, offer work opportunities for the unemployed. Sponsorship and support was also received from a number of inner city businesses and the central city business association – Heart of the City.
In September 1999, over 90 applicants were interviewed for the 12 available positions. In recruiting the team, emphasis was placed on finding people with strong enthusiasm, good attitude and excellent people skills.
Two weeks of intensive training followed recruitment. The team spent much of it getting to know what Auckland has to offer, and also worked hard on how they could add to the experience of visiting the city. They created a vision for the programme, which is to:
“enhance the image of Auckland as a vibrant city, by creating memorable experiences for all cultures”
The programme has been an undoubted success. It operates operated seven days a week over the summer and, reduced to four staff, from Monday to Friday during the winter. Ambassadors provide what is essentially a welcoming, mobile information service. The team continually monitors the streets for rubbish, graffiti, road and sign damage, and over the course of the 1999/2000 summerperiod, have established a good rapport with city retailers and businesses.
In fact, such was the popularity of the scheme that it was extended to the busy retail areas of Parnell and Newmarket in January of this year. Support was again received from local businesses and the business associations, and they have also decided to continue the programme this summer.
Some Statistics:
Since the commencement of the Ambassadors Project, the Ambassadors have dealt with 3,67910,449 reported queries and faults. These can be broken down :-
1,8616,456 queries including directions, compliments, tourist and business liaison. A percentage breakdown of query types follows:
Retail13.5%Bank2.4%Compliments0.7%Food5.1%Accomodation3.5%Tourist
Attractions8.5%Directions44.9%Transport18.5%Info
Centre2.9%
3,944 faults, including rubbish, road faults,
sign faults, and graffiti.
1,317 rubbish faults
that have been reported and actioned
409 road faults that
have been reported and actioned
75 sign faults that have
been reported and actioned
18 graffiti incidents that
have been reported and actioned
The following tables sets
out the responses to the a survey of the Ambassadors and the
CBD retailersconducted in the early part of the programme.
The third table illustrates the feedback from the
sponsors.
Responses from the Ambassadors
QuestionsResponsesDo you see yourself moving to other
employment in Auckland City?100% of the Ambassadors said yes
with two wishing to become Parking Wardens and the remaining
nine in horticulture and marketingDo you think you are
making a difference?100% said yes saying that the streets
are cleaner and people are approaching them Have you
acquired any new skills from the programme?100% said yes,
including:
People skills
Communication skills
Radio
operation
Multicultural understanding and
knowledge
Increase in confidence
Working in a team
atmosphere
Understanding CouncilDo you believe there is
room for the expansion of the Project?82% of the Ambassadors
said yes
The Ambassadors see their job as being about
meeting and greeting people, to help to make Auckland City a
more friendly and memorable experience, to foster a good
relationship with retailers and business and to put a human
face to Auckland City.
2.2.2 Responses from
CBD retailers
In another survey conducted with retailers
at the end of the initial summer programme, in which 169 out
of 180 responded, the following results were recorded :124
retailers were surveyed.
QuestionsResponsesAre you aware
of the Ambassadors Programme?85% yes
14% no
1% were
unsureDo you see the Ambassadors as an asset to
retailers?82% yes
9% no
9% no answerHow do you see the
Ambassadors as an asset to retailers?Promotion of the
City
Sending people to the right places
Promoting
business
Increasing awareness of retail sites
Creating
a more personal feel to the inner City
Creating an air of
friendliness
Presenting a clean and tidy City for
customers to come
AMBASSADOR QUESTIONNAIRE
Do you feel the City Ambassadors are an asset to Auckland City?
Very Much So Not At All
( 6 5 4
3 2 1 (
40% 36%
19% 4% 1% -
95% 5%
Do you feel the Ambassadors promote Auckland City in a positive way?
Very Much So Not At All
( 6 5 4
3 2 1 (
39% 39%
15% 6% - 1%
93% 7%
Do you feel the project has resulted in Auckland being a cleaner, tidier City?
Very Much
So Not At All
( 6 5 4 3 2
1 (
24% 30% 31%
2% 8% 3%
85% 15%
Do
you think the project has resulted in a more personal feel
for visitors to the City?
Very Much So Not At All
(
6 5 4 3 2 1 (
49% 23% 15% 6% 2%
1%
87%
13%
Do you feel the Ambassadors themselves are friendly, approachable, and informative?
Very Much
So Not At All
( 6 5 4 3 2
1 (
55% 29% 10%
6% - -
94% 6%
Do you feel the programme has given ratepayers value for their money?
Very Much So Not At All
( 6 5
4 3 2 1 (
23%
31% 25% 9% 5% 5%
79%
21%
Do you think the Ambassadors are “visible” enough?
Very Much So Not At All
( 6 5 4
3 2 1 (
36% 28%
21% 7% 4% 2%
85% 15%
Do you
think there is a need for the programme to continue?
Very Much So Not At All
( 6 5 4
3 2 1 (
40% 29%
16% 6% 3% 3%
85% 15%
Some
of the comments received from the retailers in this survey
are listed below :
Retailer Comments from Survey
Working in a Hotel, it is good to know that the
City Ambassadors are around. For tourists (NZ and overseas)
it is a good service that needs to be continued. It gives
Auckland a friendly positive feel which will put it above
all other international cities. Keep it up!!
I believe
the ambassador programme is a huge step in a direction that
Auckland city must move if it is to become one of the
world’s leading “city” destinations. It is important that
the Ambassadors are kept up to date on a daily basis
concerning what is happening in this city, especially those
funded by the city council. Congratulations to the city
council for instigating a programme that promotes the
positives of this great city.
Found the City Ambassadors
we have met very friendly and a great deal of help to
visitors to Auckland and the public in general.
I have
met many of the Ambassadors. They have all been pleasant,
helpful, courteous. Well worth having.
I think there is
a great need for this programme to continue. All the
Ambassadors around the city are just excellent!!! Friendly,
helpful – a must for Auckland City. It would be a sad city
without them!!! They are the best idea in a long time!!!
Thank you.
The city ambassadors are always smiling and
very helpful. They always say hello and I think they give
tourists a positive outlook on Auckland and are far better
than an information centre!!!
Sponsors Feedback (1999/2000 Sponsors)
SponsorFeedbackSmith and CaugheyNo adverse
comment
Could come into the shop more often
Need more
contact with AmbassadorsHeart of the CityGreat
concept
Great feedback from retailers
Concern that
rubbish is not being collectedWINZVery happy with
progress
Enthusiasm is excellent
Keep in mind their
needs in supporting them finding jobsSky CityScheme is
excellent
Seems to be going well
Increase their
contacts with the sponsors
2.2.3 Tourist feedback
One of the roles of the Ambassadors has been to be an information source for tourists, whose numbers increased dramatically in the City due to the America’s Cup, especially in the Viaduct Basin. Feedback from tourists is hard to obtain, however survey cards have recently been introduced, and some of the comments from these are listed below :
City Worker -
Nowhere else in the world has a city been introduced to me
with such enthusiasm and in such a persuasive
manner.
South Africa – “Ambassador” scheme excellent
idea. Karen was efficient, extremely helpful and went the
proverbial extra mile.
Australia – Kevin is a fantastic
chap. Told us everything we wanted to know. Great
personality. A credit to you.
Resident – Ambassadors
programme has really contributed to the image of Auckland
City as visitors feel more comfortable to move
about.
America – Demetrius was incredibly helpful and
made our experience in NZ quite nice! He went out of his
way to make sure we found the perfect place for lunch!
Thanks!
Australia – Without people like Kevin people like
us would be running around in circles, therefore not being
able to fully enjoy this beautiful city of Auckland. A pay
rise for him would be
great.