Rental Car Companies Letting NZ Tourism Down

Media release

Rental Car Companies Letting NZ Tourism Down
Chris Bell- MD Customer Experiences

All I required on a very wet Queenstown morning was an umbrella to get me from the Airport terminal to my rental car or better still a staff member-suitably dressed, to bring my processed rental car to the terminal for me to drive off in. The result would have been a happy, dry customer and a much more comfortable drive to Wanaka.

According to the rental car company manager, that was not going to happen and further more I was told in no uncertain terms that I should have checked the Queenstown weather before leaving my home and as a result dressed more appropriately.

My immediate reaction at being spoken to in this manner was to ensure that as many potential customers of that rental car company were aware of the way I was treated and as a result choose a rental car provider more carefully.

However after calming down, drying out and adopting a more professional approach I have come to the conclusion that as a customer experience development professional I must except some responsibility for the experience I received that morning in Queenstown.

We need to do a better job in educating tourism industry businesses on how to develop a real visitor centric culture. The result would be that rental car companies would have in place as part of their experience either umbrellas for customers on mornings like the one last week or someone that could have delivered the car to an area under shelter.

Adopting and developing a visitor experience strategy one that is continually seeking ways to deliver experiences that exceed customers’ expectations, is to be a key focus of the National Tourism Plan.

Right now the industry is struggling to come to grips with how a visitor experience strategy is developed and implemented. This needs to be addressed quickly. The future of NZ Tourism is going to be dependant on more than just a beautiful country. It will need to be a combination of a beautiful country and a consistent, quality visitor experience.

A small piece of advice to a forward thinking rental car company. Provide an umbrella for your customers to get to their car on wet days and you will have instantly distances your brand from the crowd.

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