You may never get another chance

I have just returned from Nepal, where normally people in the hospitality industry go out of their way to assist you.  That’s why I was surprised at the owner’s attitude when we stopped at a café between Chitwan and Pokhara for a lunch break.

The tables were greasy/dirty and we had to ask for them to be wiped, the owner/waiter was extremely unhelpful in interpreting the menu for us, the food was sub quality and overpriced.  None of this was lost on our tour guide who told us when we got back on our bus that this was a new owner who had let standards and values slip, and he would make sure that no other guide from his company would stop there again.

As I’ve said many times, in the hospitality industry you always treat every opportunity as the last time you can make an impression – otherwise it may well be.