Very high quality requirements
"Thank you for your great efforts to make our group's experience from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue truly wonderful and memorable. My whole group enjoyed the experience. I look forward to seeing you again next year."
Australian guests enjoy buffet on charter ship.
This is the content of the letter from Mr. Graeme Hind, head of the "Railway Adventure" tour group from Australia, to Mr. Than Duc Khai and Ms. Ngo Thuy Thach Thao, railway attendants and the service team of the Southern Railway Attendant Group.
Mr. Khai said that last March, his team served a group of 15 Australian tourists, hiring the entire Haratour Travel Company to conduct a cruise tour with destinations in Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Da Nang , and Hue.
Haratour has placed two sleeper cars and one buffet-serving car on the train routes on the North-South route. The train stops at the destinations, then "cuts" these three cars back to the station, waits for passengers to visit, then connects them to another train to pick up passengers to continue the journey.
"Guests traveling this way have very high demands on quality. A few days in advance, we also have to clean the carriages very carefully, decorating everything from the flower vases in the washing area to the sleeping compartment, curtains... Each group is decorated according to different themes," said Mr. Khai.
There were only 15 guests but his service team had 8 people, not including the Haratour staff accompanying him. In the team, he and his colleagues had to know English to avoid having to ask for an interpreter for everything.
On the ship, there are groups that like to dance, and groups that like to listen to chamber music. The staff must prepare speakers, good sound equalizers, and find music in advance to suit the guests' preferences.
Stand and cook continuously for 4 - 5 hours
Mr. Do Phuc Thai, an employee of the Saigon food service station (Southern Railway Attendant Group) said that serving international tourist charter groups like this, the most worrying part is the food service on the train.
Community car serving the group of guests going to Thanh Hoa on May 31, 2024, with dessert and music performance.
Because the buffet has many dishes, it takes more time to prepare. Because the train shakes a lot, the food containers must also be chosen appropriately to avoid falling or spilling out.
"The arrangement of spoons, forks, knives, folded napkins... must be as professional as in a restaurant. Many guests said that this was the first time they had eaten buffet on a ship, it was a memorable experience," said Mr. Thai.
Also serving charter groups but domestic tourists, Train Captain Kaohsiung Nam (Hanoi Railway Attendant Group) said that the train crew mainly serves groups of more than 100 passengers. For these groups, the hardest part is still serving food and drinks, because of the large number of passengers and the small space in the food car.
He said that recently, a group of FPT employees rented a whole ship to go on vacation in Lang Co, about 600 people, and ordered that many meals.
The whole team of 15 people each has a job, some divide the rice, some pack the boxes. Because customers usually order meals for 90,000 - 120,000 VND, the quality is high. The hardest working are still the chef and assistant chef. In the hot summer, to serve 600 meals, two people will have to stand and cook for 4 - 5 hours in the kitchen area right on the train.
Adults dancing, children playing ball house
According to Mr. Nam, on charter trains, in addition to food and beverage service, there are many other services that the train crew must also cover, making service more difficult than on regular trains.
Community train car for young passengers to play ball and shovel sand. Photo: Provided by Kaohsiung Nam train captain.
"There are large groups of young people so they play and sing all night long. The train crew also has to assign two people to be on duty to support.
There are also groups that rent several community cars, some decorated for adults to organize events, eat, sing karaoke, dance, and some installed a ball house for children, gathering up to 50-60 children. To ensure safety, three staff members have to be on duty at both ends of the car," Nam excitedly shared.
For more information, Ms. Hoang Nguyet Anh, Deputy Station Chief of Hanoi Railway Attendant Station (Hanoi Railway Attendant Group) said that when renting a communal train car, some customers only need to lay out carpets and use "candy pull" speakers to sing karaoke.
Some customers request decoration for events, with a stage, backdrop, tables and chairs, sweet and salty buffet, herbal foot bath, virtual check-in corner decoration, or music performances on the ship...
"Not all services can be provided by the railway itself, some services have to be outsourced, but the cost is acceptable to customers. If we serve wholeheartedly, customers will come back again," said Ms. Anh.
Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company said that charter trains are becoming increasingly popular. In May 2024 alone, the unit welcomed 8 charter groups with more than 3,000 passengers, including a group of Chinese tourists from Hanoi to destinations in the Central region with more than 800 passengers.
As for the Central Heritage train connecting Hue - Da Nang, after more than two months of operation, the railway has signed cooperation agreements with more than 120 tourism businesses for regular operation.
In the future, the railway will build products aimed at customer segments requiring high-end services, experiences, and connecting heritage destinations such as the Hanoi - Bac Ninh train with Xam singing, Quan Ho singing...
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/chuyen-bep-nuc-tren-chuyen-tau-tron-goi-192240624090355515.htm
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