Unit 8. Things to do

1. Use the following prompts to make conditional sentences expressing improbability.

1. If/you/become/managing director of Forte hotels/what do?

2. lf/I/lose/a guest on an excursion/I/ring/the hotel

3. If/you/have/a car/drive across Europe

4. They/earn/more money/if/work/longer hours

5. Sophia/tell/day-trippers about the funfair if/know/where it/be

2. Jenny McGee is Information Services Manager at the London Tourist Board. She is talking about tourist information services in London and about the qualities and qualifications she requires from her staff. Read and answer these questions.

1. How many Tourist Information Centers does Jenny mention?

2. Where are they situated?

3. How many languages do Jenny's staff require?

4. Which languages are most needed?

5. List the skills Jenny's staff require.

The London Tourist Board operates four Tourist Information Centers. These are situated at the points of entry, the points of arrival into London. The busiest one is situated at Victoria Station and there we deal with 2 million personal enquiries each year. People arrive there via the Gatwick Express from Gatwick Airport; they also come from the coach station – so they've perhaps come up through Europe on the coach. We've got hundreds of thousands of commuters coming through who are also tourists in our eyes; and also we've got the boat trains coming in from the Continent as well.

Other centers are located at Heathrow Airport for obvious reasons and Liverpool Street Station for people arriving from Stansted Airport and from the boat trains from Northern Europe via Harwich. And then, finally, we have an office in Selfridges department store in central London. And then there are centers that aren't operated by London Tourist Board, but which are supported by London Tourist Board, such as the one located at the new Waterloo International Arrivals Complex. So the idea is that when you come into London, wherever you arrive, there should be a welcome service for you.

Therefore, it's important that the staff working in those offices are able to communicate in foreign languages. Most of the independent travelers who arrive who can't speak English come from Europe, and they need people who can talk to them. So the staff that we employ to work in these centers all speak at least two European languages other than English. The people who come from the rest of the world are often visiting friends or relations in the capital, so perhaps they don't need our services so badly. However, we also employ people who speak Chinese, Japanese and Indian languages. Hopefully, we can help anybody who comes through.

Communication skills are paramount, not only foreign languages but also the ability to talk to people and to be able to listen, so listening skills are absolutely essential. Being able to speak really knowledgeably and enthusiastically not just about London but also the rest of the country as well is also important. So they have to have some knowledge of the United Kingdom.

So those are the main skills: languages, interpersonal and communication skills. But these days you're also expected to have computer skills, because most of the information systems that we use are computerized. And you need a very good telephone manner because we are engaged in an awful lot of sales activities. Therefore, experience of sales, retail or shop work is also very important to us, because increasingly tourist centers have to raise income to fund the services they offer.