A post by Seth Godin about the "problem of perfect," rings so true in the hospitality industry. Whether you are on a vacation or in a restaurant a or visiting an attraction, the customer expects - and the management attempts to present, perfection in their product delivery. But is it attainable? Of course not.
Many customers are not prepared for the adventure part of a paid experience. The recovery of a slip up can be an adventure taken in the proper context, or it can be a ruined day. Seth uses the word "interesting." Interesting has unpredictability to it. Perfect is predictable.
As the Rocky Mountaineer brand becomes more established, the expectations rise; and so they should. Any product in the hospitality industry has a mix of an infrastructure element and a people element. Both can be unpredictable in their delivery, but they can be interesting if one is open to what the final result may be.
Very occasionally, our trains get delayed. Sometimes an hour, sometimes more. Long explanations why (another post), but likely because of freight train traffic on the same route. You may read some comments about this on some of the travel sites. Yes it can occur. What was anticipated to be a perfect trip may not be - but with the change in plans, some unexpected magic can occur. Our onboard team kicks into another gear. You see things track side you may not have noticed. You learn about an area you may never have known about - or you may find out that you and someone else in the coach grew up in the same hometown. The journey, especially an interesting journey, is the the destination. This is the lure of travel for so many. And that can be perfect.




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