Suggestions For The Coban Hotel Industry

We who are members of the Coban Hotel industry are all in the same boat, and we will sink or float together. If we are to improve the tourist industry here, we must understand the tourists’ needs and desires, and fulfill them. Tourists travel for three reasons: 1) Entertainment / relaxation; 2) Education; and 3) Understanding / guidance. To the foreign tourist, travel is a break in his normal day-to-day routine. He travels to enjoy, to learn, and to deepen his view of life. We are here to make money from tourism, certainly; but we are also here to entertain, educate, and guide. If we forget this mission – if we (or our employees) only care about how much money we can make from a tourist – the word will go out, and that tourist will have a negative impression of us. He will warn other tourists away from our hotel Coban (rather than recommend it), or – worse yet – will write a letter of complaint to the major tourist guidebooks (Lonely Planet, Footprints, etc.). The guidebooks are the life or death of a Coban hotel – a good rating in the guidebooks brings lots of tourists, and a bad word (or no word at all) keeps them away.

Here are some suggestions for improving the Coban hotel industry which various groups can effect:

INGUAT should distribute the existing Guide and Map of Verapaz free at its central office, at the airport, at all major Coban hotels, hotels in Guatemala and Antigua, at the Monja Blanca bus office, etc. The INGUAT website should be the central clearinghouse for all regional websites in Guatemala – it should pop up in first place in the major search engines when “Guatemala Travel” is sought, and it should link to all regional websites.

The recent crash of the coffee business has shown us that Coban cannot depend upon agriculture as a stable source of income or a reliable source of future economic growth. The Coban hotel owners and other tourism service providers must take the lead in promoting the industry. Cleanliness should be a top priority of the city government. Cleaning up the town; policing it; and making it a pleasant place to stay should be a top priority of the municipal government. The Municipalidad of Coban should provide (and empty regularly) trash cans on major streets, the park, in markets, etc. The Muni should sponsor radio advertisements in both Spanish and K’ekchi with the themes: 1) Don’t litter – let us take pride in the cleanliness of our neighborhoods and countryside. 2) The tourist is your friend – he comes from foreign lands to learn about how the people here live, and to enjoy our mountains, rivers and forests. There are very few places on earth as beautiful as Alta Verapaz – let us show our foreign guests true hospitality and friendship. The recent “trash pick-up day” by all the school children in Coban was an excellent effort. It should be done monthly – or at least quarterly – perhaps with prizes or dancing / partying at the end so that enthusiasm continues, to make “trash pick-up day” a festive occasion that jovenes look forward to.

El Comite del Festival Folklorico: The Committee should listen to the contestants’ suggestions, and listen to the audience’s suggestions. The audience is present to see folklore, not to listen to long speeches.

Hotel Coban Proprietors and Employees: Ask the tourists who visit you what they liked and didn’t like; and when enough of them make the same comments, do what they suggest. Don’t argue with tourists when they complain; listen to them. Even troublemakers you can learn something from. Don’t be afraid to visit your competitors. If you are a hotelkeeper you should visit – and spend the night, if possible – in all the Coban hotel (and elsewhere) which are on the same level as yours. Excursion operators should take each others’ tours. In this way you will get good ideas about service, prices, menus, décor, etc. Remember: if you are not improving, then you are falling behind. Finally, serving lousy coffee is a stupid way to save money. It’s the last thing the tourists eat, and a good cup of coffee will leave them with a good final impression, so that they return. There is really no excuse for serving Nescafé here in Coban. Coffee is our pride – let’s share our pride with visitors who come here.

By: Bob Makransky

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Our task and mission, as Coban hotel owners (and the mission of our employees), is to serve. If we take pride in serving well, we not only feel a sense of accomplishment with our hotel Coban, but also we assure that the tourists will return and tell their friends about the beautiful landscape and friendly people of Coban hotels.