Yesterday, in a shady corner of the Ontario Tourism Call Centre parking lot in Mississauga, Ont., a dozen agents had the opportunity to leave their phones and jump onto a double-seated jog cart
. It was part of a presentation made by the members of the Racetracks of Ontario Marketing and Promotions in an effort to help educate the tourism agents about the Ontario harness racing product.
As a gang of eager tourism experts made their way out of the office and into the sunshine, squeals of “is that a real horse?” could be heard across the parking lot. Stoney, a 12-year-old retired standardbred, was the guest of honour at the presentation. He helped the agents gain hands-on experience with the hopes that they’ll be able to pass on their newfound knowledge and enthusiasm to their many callers.
“The Ontario Tourism Call Centre is the central information line for the province’s Ministry of Tourism,” explained Andy Saito, who has managed the call centre for the last nine years.
The 1-800-Ontario hotline is a great resource for anyone hoping to take advantage of the many amazing attractions that the province has to offer. With 14 experienced agents ready to answer every possible question to help people plan action-packed weekends, the phones are ringing off the hook.
“This week and next week is out busiest time,” said Saito. “Right now, it’s people planning for the long weekend. These days, our agents might handle between 120 and 200 calls in a day.”
So, when it comes to helping people find fun things to do on their days off, it’s up to the agents to know all the coolest places to play in Ontario. “We get a lot of open-ended questions, so it’s up to the agent,” said Saito.
“It’s really about tapping into their brain and their knowledge of the province. This sort of experience really plants it in their mind and they can talk about it first-hand.”
The agents are accustomed to attending presentations to learn about Ontario’s many events and attractions, but it usually involves watching a power point presentation in a boardroom “so this is pretty different,” said Saito. “This is kind of a nice change; it gives the agents a chance to get out of the office and off the phones for a bit so I’m sure they’re going to appreciate it.”
Stoney, accompanied by an experienced driver and led by Erin Braybrook from Standardbred Canada, gave each of the agents a short trip around the parking lot. Meanwhile, ROMP members shared their love of racing and some details about the finer points of harness racing, from the many fabulous places to dine to the numerous signature races on the industry’s calendar.
The average agent has been with Ontario Tourism for eight years, and some as many as 13 years, so they really know their stuff. Now, with the help of ROMP’s presentation, they’re experts on the many exciting events happening at harness racing tracks across the province.
ROMP would like to thank Jackie Warner of Georgian Downs for organizing the presentation, and all of the ROMP members who assisted.
(ROMP)