People and the travel/tourism industry
Replies: 20 - Last Post: Jun 16, 2012 11:58 PM Last Post By: mariha2912
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While I was working in reception in a resort hotel in Greece, focused mostly on water sports, I very often had to deal with serious injuries , sun strokes and the like. Οnce I had to go with a 4 months' pregnant English guest to the hospital after what seemed a minor injury, staying with her there and translate, after various scanning etc turns that woman had a miscarriage and I had to go and announce this to her... I thought this might have been the worst experience concerning medical stuff and health issues but then while working in the same hotel an other summer, a had to deal with a guest's death. A divorced woman from UK who have been staying in the hotel with her 8 and 5 years' old sons, had a heart attack and then drowned while water skiing. I can not describe you the panic that followed and how difficult it was to handle the situation, of course firstly concerning her kids, and doing all the paperwork, contacting local authorities, contact travel agency etc etc etc... And secondly trying to keep calm and happy and trying to make such event not to have impact on the holidays of about 400 stressed adults and 600 children of various ages... It was a nightmare!19
Marlha,I think you may have taken the intent of my posting wrongly; I was not intending to insult or to laugh at the industry- as you will see from my previous comments above.
Some years ago, my sister in law was Head Receptionist at a large, centrally located, 4 star London Hotel & regularly her bosses would overbook the place in busy seasons. As they were fairly near one of our largest railway stations, there would be business people arriving from the north of England-at the same time as American tourists from Heathrow Airport - and the poor receptionists would have to explain the situation to all of these tired & angry people, whilst trying to find them somewhere else to stay. Her bosses would, of course, be nowhere to be seen.
