Blog 2: Jill's Takeaways

Jill Christmas

Brazil & Argentina 3 Course Takeaways

Takeaway 1: The Variety of Evaluation Tools

Despite my perpetually getting them confused, the numerous different methods of evaluation for each aspect of the customer experience were useful and efficient for this project.   I can see myself using them in the future on other projects.  My personal favorite was the ITA Matrix because it makes the touchpoints visible and once the matrix is explained, it’s easy to see what areas need the most improvement.  Another I just enjoyed doing were the peak experience interviews.  People love talking about their adventures and I enjoy hearing about them so that suits me well.

Takeaway 2: Alternative travel style of Chinese millennials

This was my first experience traveling in an organized group tour with Chinese millennial students.  Aside from the observations made when I worked in Yosemite, I had never really thought too much about the dramatic difference in the preferred style of travel between westerners and Chinese people.  That difference is even more pronounced in younger age groups.  I learned a great deal about their priorities and desires which will never be something I can relate to but it’s good for me to be aware of in the tourism industry.

Takeaway 3: G Adventures

My familiarity with G Adventures prior to this course was minimal so learning about the company and their values was very interesting.  I enjoyed doing the user experience analysis because it allowed me to look through the G Adventures website which ultimately introduced me to the wide range of available tours in so many different countries.

Based on the topics discussed in Looptail and what we learned in talking to Jamie after our presentation, I feel that G Adventures has goals and values that are similar to my own.  Depending on my situation in the coming years, I would be interested in pursuing a position with them, preferably on the Planatera side.