Bus driver's rudeness irks tourism adviser

Photo / Greg Bowker

Auckland's bus drivers are lagging behind the city's taxi operators in giving visitors a good experience, says an international tourism adviser.

An attempt to seek information from a bus driver on the city streets last week was met with a rude rebuff, said Melbourne visitor Jeff Kennett, a former Victorian Premier who is a member of Singapore Tourism's International Advisory Council.

He said that while looking around Auckland before speaking to a 200-strong audience of business people, he met a group of German tourists who were lost.

"I asked a bus driver for help. He said no and closed the door in my face and drove off, leaving me with a gritty feeling."

However, Mr Kennett's experience with taxi drivers was a better one.

He thought the taxi service was a good start for Auckland's ability to cater for an influx of visitors for the Rugby World Cup.

"The service is excellent, a credit to your city."

Mr Kennett was impressed with the cleanliness of the cabs and the friendliness of the drivers.

He said that the importance of taxi and bus drivers being good communicators could not be underestimated in visitors' experience.

The incident surprised Auckland Transport public affairs manager Wally Thomas.

"We expect all of our contractors, the bus operators in this case, to have high standards of customer service."

He said the latest customer satisfaction survey was for the year ending May 2010.

"Staff friendliness/helpfulness to bus passengers was rated as a good to very good: 4.5 out of a 6-point scale."

Auckland Tourism is calling for "100 per cent pure hospitality" for the RWC tournament during September and October when Auckland will be the gateway for 66,000 international tourists, 2500 VIPs and 2000 media.

"It's disappointing to hear that visitors have an experience like this," Mr Thomas said.

"New Zealanders in general are renowned for their friendliness and welcoming nature, so isolated incidents like this are unfortunate.

"Overall, visitors rate their experience highly."

Auckland Tourism was trying to impress upon businesses the concept that "everyone works in tourism".

Staff knowledge and recommendations could add to the quality of visitors' experiences, Mr Thomas said.

A resource tool called Match-Ready-For-Business on www.auckland2011.com aims to help businesses prepare their staff to respond to questions.

During the tournament, a band of volunteers called "wiseguys" will patrol the streets to give information to visitors.