Alicia – Outfitter

This summer marks my fourth season with the company. I started working with my sister when I was 16 years old. I decided to join the company because I have always been interested in the tourism industry and I wanted to find out whether or not I was interested in pursuing a career in tourism. I am now 19 and studying to earn a degree in Business Management.
The first few seasons I worked for Princess and Holland America I was scheduled in numerous different locations, both in Anchorage and in Whittier. Each day that I went to work I was at a different location and had a different task to perform. It was a perfect summer employment opportunity for me because there was a great variety from day to day.
This season I mainly work at the Hotel Captain Cook or the Hilton Hotel. In one sense I do the same things everyday. I meet guests just arriving and prepare them for their land or cruise tour. I depart guests to the airports that are ending their tour. I answer questions, book tours, and solve problems everyday. The great thing about working in the tourism industry, though, is that everyday is different. There are different guests who are arriving and departing each day. There are different situations to handle and different questions to answer each day. Even though I am working at the same location every day, it is never monotonous or boring because there is always something to do.
My favorite part about working at the hotels is the fact that I have the opportunity to impact a guest’s tour and their impression of the company. I see guests a number of times throughout an evening and we have the chance to speak with them and while getting to know them as well. If a guest has an issue they need assistance with, I have the time and the resources to assist them at the hotels. The service we Outfitters provide each individual passenger at the different hotels has a major impact on a guest’s overall tour experience.