
DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705150202

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  129 lines

THEY AIM TO PLEASE TOURISM KEEPS 11,000 EMPLOYED AT THE BEACH. LAST WEEK, 18 PEOPLE WERE HONORED FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE CITY'S VISITORS.

WHEN JOSE RIVERA reports for work at the Ramada Plaza Resort Oceanfront, he has only one thing on his mind. Keeping the place sparkling clean.

When David Pender, the Ramada's general manager, views the work of Rivera and the rest of his 150-person staff, he has something else in mind. Making sure that guests have the kind of experience that will make them want to come back.

``In the hospitality industry,'' Pender said, ``people are 95 percent of the equation. If you don't give superior service, the guy down the street is going to take your business.''

And a significant business it is in the resort city. Last summer 2.2 million tourists rented enough hotel rooms, ate in enough restaurants and visited enough attractions to add half a billion dollars to the city's economic base and $38.7 million to the city's treasury.

Whether or not the visitors return depends in large part on people like Rivera and the other 11,000 front-line hospitality industry workers in Virginia Beach.

At a luncheon last Thursday, 18 individuals, two hotels and one group were honored by the Department of Convention and Visitor Development and the Virginia Beach Tourism Industry for their outstanding work in serving the city's visitors.

Rivera was among them.

``He's a one-man cleaning machine,'' said Sharon Crosby, the Ramada's executive housekeeper. Before Rivera went to work at the Ramada last year, carpet cleaning was contracted out. With his arrival, it became an in-house job.

``Since he's been here, he's saved us more than $7,000 by cleaning all of the carpets in the hotel's 215 guest rooms, banquet rooms, restaurant and public areas,'' Crosby said.

He also keeps the glass in the public areas shining, helps the housekeepers when they deep clean the rooms and even takes his turn at making beds if that's what's called for on a particular day.

The 34-year-old Queens, N.Y., native admits that he's pretty good at what he does, but is quick to give credit elsewhere. ``I guess it's a gift that I have,'' he said.

It's a gift that was nurtured by another Rivera who takes pride in maintaining a sparkling property. His mother, Anna, is a housekeeper at another Oceanfront hotel, the Ramada Inn Oceanfront at 6th Street and Atlantic Avenue.

Some of this year's award winners, like Rivera and with his Volkswagen-size cleaning machine, are highly visible to the public. So is the work they do.

Others, such as Cindy Whitemore, assistant controller at the Ramada Resort Plaza, do their work behind the scenes. ``I guess most of the guests don't realize what I do,'' she said, `` but it's still nice to walk through the hotel and see them having a good time.''

Her profile may be low, but her impact is high. When the hotel's biweekly payroll is made up, it's she who does it. When the bills for everything from laundry detergent to light bulbs are paid, it's the Great Bridge mother of twin teen-age sons who strokes the check.

What sets her aside from others, said Maureen Sumner, the hotel's controller, is her dedication to the job and her ability to anticipate what needs to be done. ``She can go in, adapt and absolutely do the best job you could hope for,'' Sumner said.

Doing the best job - and more - is the hallmark of all of this year's award winners. The extra effort they put in is what keeps locals coming back to Oceanfront businesses and keeps visitors coming back to Virginia Beach.

Take, for instance, Mike Pasquino, who buses tables at Capt. George's Seafood Restaurant. A high school senior, he has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, helped feed the homeless, been accepted at the Air Force Academy and changed a tire.

Not on his own car, but on the car of restaurant patrons who came out to find their vehicle sitting lop-sided in the parking lot.

Another trait that most of the winners share is dependability. Pasquino's co-worker, waitress Robin Belle, has served Capt. George's guests for six years without ever calling in late or sick. Alan Kitchen, named ``top dishwasher,'' has an even longer record. In the 10 years he has worked at the Virginia Beach Resort and Conference Center he's been at work, on time and in full uniform every day his name was on the schedule.

Several hundred hospitality workers do their jobs with equal dedication but without pay. Joe Brown, a retired insurance executive, has volunteered at First Landing/Seashore State Park's information center since 1981. His love of the park is infectious.

This year, for the first time in the four year history of the tourism awards, two hotels were recognized for outstanding service.

One was the Cavalier, which found itself dealing with two major events at the same time last September. One was the Southeast Tourism Society Annual Meeting, which it was hosting. The other was the maddeningly unpredictable northward trek of Hurricane Fran.

``When you have a storm coming, you always worry about losing power and things like that,'' said Dan Batchelor, the Cavalier's general manager. ``We're used to that in Virginia Beach.'' Still, the Cavalier staff prepared for the worst. While Fran spared our oceanfront, she wasn't so kind to areas to the south.

Some convention-goers had to cancel as finicky Fran made up her mind which areas to hit. ``They had to stay home to protect their own piece of the Earth,'' said Batchelor. In the end, all went well and the tourism folks went home to spread the word about hospitality and preparedness in Virginia Beach.

The second hotel award went to the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort for the work Gary Pfund and his staff did in hosting another important group, the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association.

``We worked for 3 1/2 years on it,'' said sales manager Christine Palmer who booked the group back in 1993. ``I kept saying I probably wouldn't even be here by the time they arrived.''

But she was still there last October when the group held its meeting. And she was still there the other morning when a reporter called for information about the event.

Only instead of booking conventions, she was answering incoming calls. ``It's crazy here this morning. They needed help so I'm helping,'' she said in the manner that is typical of the kind of the cooperative effort of this year's winners. MEMO: WVEC, Channel 13, will travel to the Oceanfront today for the 13

Listens Tour. Crews will broadcast the 5 and 6 p.m. news shows from the

Boardwalk at 30th Street. The public is welcome. If you can't make that,

the tour will be in Pungo Wednesday, also at 5 and 6 p.m., in front of

Munden's Grocery. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos including color cover by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT

Other employees at the Ramada Plaza Resort Oceanfront call Jose

Rivera a ``one-man cleaning machine.''

William S. Norman, president and CEO of Travel Industry Association

of America, spoke at the luncheon honoring people in the tourism

industry.

David Pender, general manager of the Ramada Plaza Resort Oceanfront,

chats with Cindy Whitemore, one of two award-winning Ramada

employees.