Chris Warnke, Area Manager for Diamond resorts is on the board of the SMTA and heads its training committee. Chris among other degrees holds the Certified Hospitality Administrator certification from AHLEI, its highest award. Chris made the following statements at today's commencements:
Diamond Resorts International is committed to the highest standards of service to our timeshare owners, club-members and guests and this is an integral part of the company's philosophy in "The Meaning of Yes".
To achieve these high standards the company promotes trainings and continuous education on all levels of employees up to senior executive management.
We are proud to announce that in cooperation with the St. Maarten Timeshare Association, SMTA, we have begun a series of training programs for our various departments including housekeeping, maintenance, front desk and management at both Resorts The Flamingo Beach Resort and the Royal Palm Resort for all levels of our team members. Our goal is it to have all our employees certified as hospitality specialists and later the whole resorts certified as the 'Gold Hospitality Resorts'.
Ongoing training sessions of all our staff are necessary to keep our staff updated on changes in our products, our environment, our infrastructural systems, and also to improve our professionalism for example by learning how to succeed expectations of our guests, owners, and customers.
One employee of the Maintenance department @ DRI Flamingo Resort, who started training today explained how delighted he was to have management invest in training for his benefit, namely to upgrade his skills but also teach him how to interact with guests. He called it a unique and rewarding experience that he will take with him throughout his career.
Since we are experiencing a constant change in our surroundings we are all faced with a life-long-learning process. How one of my educators summarized it: "Only those who are learning permanently are those who are the most successful in their business."
This is also of high importance for the health of our economy here in St. Maarten: Vacationers have many choices, so they are most attracted to visit those places where they receive the best service from well educated and friendly hospitality people.
