BRECK 101

In 2017, the Breckenridge Tourism Office launched the seasonal pilot program of Breck 101. This experiential guest-service training program offers activity outings, dining experiences, spa services, lodging tours, retail scavenger hunts and other educational activities to Breckenridge’s most guest-facing employees – all at no cost to them. The mission of the Breck 101 program is to provide Breckenridge’s guest service workers an opportunity to experience first-hand the offerings they’re trusted to recommend while also learning about support resources available to them as residents. In 2019, Breck 101 received Destinations International Most Cost Effective New Program at the annual WOW Awards for its ability to provide an exceptional frontline training experience – and free for students.

Guest service is more important than ever. To best service guests and local businesses, Breckenridge’s frontline workers should be familiar with the current offerings for local attractions and activities. The BTO researches the guest experience extensively to better understand their expectations and what influences their likelihood to promote Breckenridge as a destination.  During their stay, we’ve taken intercept surveys that are compared to their post trip viewpoints to identify “where guests receive their information” and “what they wish they had known”. For the 18-19 winter season, retail workers, servers/bartenders, concierges/hotel staff, and the Welcome Center rose in rank and accounted for the top resources of in-town information, only second to Google. According to Destination Analyst, over 86% of travel decisions are decided by word of mouth opinions.

• Showcase your offerings and services
  The participants in the program occupy some of the highest guest interaction positions in Breckenridge and provide thousands of guest recommendations per day. Breck 101 is an opportunity to teach them about your business and what sets you apart so that they can better inform their own guests and customers.
• Utilize students of this program to help train your own employees
  If there’s an opportunity for your business to use our students as “guests” to support new offerings or demonstrations while helping to train your own staff, we want to help!
• Increase online reviews and improve your search results
  After each experience, students are sent links to your business’s Google My Business page and encouraged to leave feedback following positive experiences.

Students

All front-line, guest-facing positions in Breckenridge can enroll as “students” – retail workers, front-desk and sales, bartenders and servers, shuttle drivers and more are all encouraged to participate. Research shows these positions now provide more recommendations than the traditional lodging concierge once did. As all Breck 101 experiences are free, we simply request you pay the vendors back in the form of reviews following positive experiences.

Businesses

Vendors may participate by providing experiences for students to try – sleigh rides, historical tours, retail offerings, tasting dinners – your business offering is entirely up to you. With two annual Breck 101 programs run since 2017, we’ve learned a great deal and want to work with your business to create enticing experiences to get guest service workers in the door and learn about all you have to offer. Register below to get in touch with the BTO to discuss more.