THE CRUISE INSIDER
PROJECTS
Cruise Guide Development
Network Orientation
Cruise Hospitality Staff Training
Cruise Guide Development Network Orientation
Cruise Guide Development
Network Orientation
Cruise Guide Development
Cruise Guide Development
Network Orientation
Network Orientation
Hospitality staff training
Public appearances
CRUISE GUIDE DEVELOPMENT
NETWORK ORIENTATION
AALBORG, DENMARK
2015-2020
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In a few short years Aalborg has gone from being an inconspicuous provincial destination with less than a handful of cruise calls, to being one of Denmark’s biggest local cruise destinations with more than 30 calls annually and I am happy and proud to have been an integral part of this success story since the beginning. My connection to VisitAalborg goes back further, but ever since 2015 I have taken on an engaged, focused and ever-expanding role – as the Cruise Insider – in the cruise guide education program and as of late 2017 the results have been substantiated; tour rating results from one of Aalborg's frequent luxury line clients show that Aalborg guides - on average - are better rated by guests than any other Baltic destination in their itineraries.
Guide training program:
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Themed classroom-based modules / Motivational season kick-off sessions
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Mix of presentation-based lecturing and active learning methods, i.e. group discussion / engagement, training exercises / role play etc.
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Cruise tourism basics, cruise call profiling, Shore Excursion format & expectations, cruise guest demographics and management, international customer service, tour logistics & crisis management, presentation & storytelling techniques, body language & relationship-building etc.
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Between 20 and 35 participants pr. module
Network orientation:
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'Creating Value from Cruise Tourism' - customized motivational orientation for the local retail trade association of Aalborg
CRUISE HOSPITALITY STAFF TRAINING
BERGEN, NORWAY
2016-2019
When Viking Ocean Cruises made Bergen one of their two Nordic homeports (Stockholm being the other) for their Nordic cruise program, the destination management agency, DMC Norway, faced an unusual challenge. Despite being Norway’s leading cruise port, Bergen had not seen much turnaround business for decades and did not have a vast, experienced pool of freelance hospitality staff to recruit from. What people were available were industry novices - inexperienced, insecure and unable to maintain the Viking Cruises high-premium service standards.
In cooperation with professional trainer Linda Bech from ArenaPlus, we produced a full day workshop / training session for 80+ new Hospitality Guides in which I taught them cruise industry basics, Viking Cruises service standards, cultural customer service expectations and turnaround dynamics and Linda taught them her signature 4-pronged personality profiles and the appropriate, succesful techniques to deal with them in a cruise experience setting.
The first workshop was held in April of 2016 with refined repeat sessions every year since for new batches of hospitality guides, all of which have been very well received and evaluated. Ever since the 2016 cruise season, reviews of Viking Cruises turnaround ratings have found that not only have Bergen staff now performed above the required minimum service standard level, but they have also pulled even with the ratings of their (much more experienced) counterparts in Stockholm - in some cases even surpassing the Swedish service ratings.
I have since had the opportunity to supervise a Bergen turnaround of a Viking ship in 2017 and was delighted to see so many workshop participants carrying themselves professionally, confidently and courteously and contributing actively and enthusiastically to a positive and hospitable turnaround experience.
CRUISE GUIDE DEVELOPMENT
NETWORK ORIENTATION
SKAGEN, DENMARK
2016-2020
Following an extensive expansion of port facilities, the stakeholders of Skagen cruise business were rewarded with an impressive 300% increase in guest volume from the 2014 to the 2015 season, leading to an increased focus on guide development and network orientation. To that end I was first invited to Skagen for the 2016 pre-season kick-off for the cruise guide community to share my input and experience in preparation for the unfamiliar volume and new types of guests. The engagement grew in 2017 with the addition of the remainder of the Cruise Skagen Network – a network of representatives from the municipality, the port, the cultural institutions, local business and more – and in 2018 with the addition of a customized guide training program. Skagen continues to enjoy increasing cruise call numbers and reap praise and accolade for their hospitality and destination experiences.
Guide training program:
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Concentrated weekend program of classroom-based modules / Motivational season kick-off sessions
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Mix of presentation-based lecturing and active learning methods, i.e. group discussion / engagement, training exercises / role play etc.
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Cruise tourism basics, cruise call profiling, Shore Excursion format & expectations, cruise guest demographics and management, international customer service, tour logistics & crisis management, presentation & storytelling techniques, body language & relationship-building, cruise brand orientation etc.
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Between 30 and 40 participants
Network orientation:
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'On Course for Skagen' - customized industry / cruise tourism orientation for the Cruise Skagen Network
CRUISE GUIDE DEVELOPMENT
NETWORK ORIENTATION
FREDERICIA, DENMARK
2018 - 2020
In 2018 the town of Fredericia - a small, fortified garrison city from 1650, nestled in the bottom western corner of the Kattegat - decided to take their cruise destination game to the next level. Active as a cruise destination since 2014, Fredericia was about to see their cruise traffic rise sharply into the double-digits and wanted to ensure a quality destination experience, characterized by confident professionalism, Fredericia-flavored hospitality and experiential value for visitors to sustain the growth. In cooperation with the port and tourism authorities, I developed the bulk of a cruise guide training program, aimed at inspiring confidence, instilling professionalism and creating authentic experiences, and judging by cruise line feedback from this first season of the program graduates, it has been a success.
Guide training program:
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Themed classroom-based modules / Motivational call orientation / Real-world bus tour training / external examiner for cruise guide examinations
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Mix of presentation-based lecturing and active learning methods, i.e. group discussion / engagement, training exercises / role play etc.
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Cruise tourism basics, cruise call profiling & brand orientation, Shore Excursion format & expectations, cruise guest demographics and management, international customer service, tour logistics & crisis management, presentation & storytelling techniques, body language & relationship-building etc.
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Between 30 and 40 participants pr. module
Network orientation:
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'What the cruise industry wants' - customized strategic and operational orientation for the Cruise Frederica action committee
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'Creating Value from Cruise Tourism' - customized motivational orientation for the local retail trade association of Fredericia
CRUISE GUIDE DEVELOPMENT
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
2019 - 2020
My appreciation and command of storytelling as a guide skill has grown out of my own experience as a tour guide, realizing early on that it was much more impactful to make guests ‘feel a story’ than to make them listen to some facts, and gained further depth sitting in on guided tours around the world with experienced storytellers. Therefore it didn’t take me long to evolve Storytelling from a mere bullet point in a guide’s skill set to a full-fledged standalone teaching subject. And when Gvidi – a Copenhagen-based Guide & Host Agency – was looking for someone to boost the effective storytelling skills of their cruise guides, I was recommended. Over a series of afternoon sessions in March 2019 I brought home the effectiveness, techniques and sheer joy of storytelling to all of Gvidi’s cruise guide corps.
Guide training program:
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Concentrated afternoon sessions of presentation-based background / theory coupled with dynamic storytelling group exercises
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Story structure and elements, sourcing and genres, why storytelling works, message and technique, rehearsal and absorption, delivery and gusto
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14 participants per session
CRUISE GUIDE DEVELOPMENT
NETWORK ORIENTATION
AARHUS, DENMARK
2019
Aarhus is not only Denmark’s second-largest city but has more or less consistently also been Denmark’s second-largest cruise destination for more than 20 years. Aarhus has plenty experience, engagement and infrastructure going for it and is far from the typical start-up destination that I normally service. For that reason I was both surprised and pleased to get a call from the tourism authority in 2019 asking me not only for a two-component cruise guide familiarization session but also for an orientation session for the destinations volunteer hospitality corps, the ‘Rethinkers’ . Three sessions were held over two days in March and thusly armed with a deeper grasp of cruise tourism and guests, both cruise guides and Rethinkers enthusiastically broke open a new season of 70.000+ cruise guests in Aarhus.
Guide training program:
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Twin classroom-based orientation modules to supplement the local cruise guide education with specific cruise context and method
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Cruise tourism basics / experience, cruise call profiling & brand orientation, destination profile, Shore Excursion format & expectations, cruise guest demographics and hospitality, international customer service, tour logistics & crisis management, presentation & storytelling techniques, body language & relationship-building etc.
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Between 25 and 30 participants pr. module
Network orientation:
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‘An introduction to cruises’ - customized motivational orientation /enrichment for the volunteer hospitality hosts of VisitAarhus, the Rethinkers
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NETWORK ORIENTATION
BORNHOLM, DENMARK
2019
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Another surprise inquiry from another of Denmark's perennial cruise destinations takes me to the island of Bornholm - Easternmost outpost of the Danish kingdom and a Baltic tourism hotspot, recently named Europe's second-best island destination by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler. Upon completion of a new multipurpose pier in the town of Rønne, Bornholm has overcome previous operational challenges with size limitations and extreme weather sensitivity, and cruise visitor numbers are set to increase threefold over the next four years. Local retailers, operators and attractions are curious as to how to handle this influx and to ensure value is generated, not just for themselves, but for the visitors as well, and this becomes the basis of a 2-day course in Rønne in November of 2019.
Network orientation program:
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Two full-day sessions in classroom format with interactive exercises.
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Industry orientation, regional dynamics, experiential breakdown, decoding cruise guest behavior and needs, cruise guest service design, international hospitality & customer service, call profiling and more
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Participants from the islands retail sector, tour operator businesses and cultural attractions
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10 participants per session
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HOSPITALITY TRAINING
ODENSE, DENMARK
2021
'It's not what you know - it's who you know', they say! Luckily, when the former Cruise Fredericia manager found herself in a new capacity with Visit Odense and tasked with moving the city's hospitality function away from brick and mortar and into human vessels, she knew that I knew what that would take. 'Can you do what you do, but without the cruise angle?', she asked. And as it turns out 'Yes, I can!' And to ensure the new City Hosts of Odense got not just the essential 'why' of great hospitality, but the workable 'how' as well, I once again teamed up with the fantastic coach and inspirator, Linda Bech from ArenaPlus to develop a one-day workshop format for prepping the new City Hosts to project, manage and improve hospitality on the streets of Odense. Over the course of a sunny day in June we taught 10 prospective city hosts and the members of the Visit Odense team the p's and q's of street-level, meaningful hospitality.
Network orientation:
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‘Hospitality orientation’ - customized orientation about the new hospitality
approach for Visit Odense's partner network of stakeholders and interessees
Hospitality training program:
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One full-day workshop session with mix of lecture-based orientation and interactive training exercises
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Content:
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Participants: aspiring Odense City Hosts from many walks of life
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10 participants
DANISH MARITIME MUSEUM
Elsinore, Denmark
March 28, 2018
Just before Easter of 2018 I enjoyed a unique opportunity to present my brand-new lecture ‘How Tourism Went To Sea’ on the history of the cruising phenomenon at the fantastic Museum of Maritime History (Museet for Søfart) in Elsinore! More than 50 interested museumgoers showed up on a Wednesday afternoon to find out more about how and when the tourism concept first took to the high seas, and what roaming, fascinating and innovative routes it took from there to become the globe-spanning, mega-industry it is today.
Together we went on a 90 minute journey spanning twin hemispheres, multiple oceans and close to 175 years of recorded cruise history, delving into manifestations of the cruise phenomenon so peculiar and unexpected, you would think I was making it up. Audience reception was positive, as was feedback from the museum;
'The cruise history lecture by Jacob Lyngsøe had everything that a lecture of this type should have - professionalism, thoroughness and an contagious passion for the subject matter!'
Mazdak Khosravi,
event coordinator, Museet for Søfart
Are you interested in learning more about the history of cruising or the contemporary makeup and nature of the industry? Contact the Cruise Insider!
