N.J.'s Super notes from Indy aimed to power tourism in 2014

February 06. 2012 2:06PM

N.J.'s Super notes from Indy aimed to power tourism in 2014

As Super Bowl travelers head home, Meadowlands officials are starting to put their notes from Indianapolis in action, as they prepare for MetLife Stadium to host the big game in 2014.

One key aspect of the weeklong event that Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce CEO Jim Kirkos hopes to emulate is the customer service training he saw on display in this year's host city.

"From getting to the airport to arriving at the stadium on game day, the amount of hospitable staff was beyond impressive," Kirkos said. "They made the experience memorable, which makes people want to come back to the city — and that's exactly what we hope for here in 2014."

While Indianapolis trained hired help with their own customer service curriculum, recruiting from the area's community colleges, Kirkos hopes to put the job in the hands of the Certified Tourism Ambassador Network, a service that trains employees with a curriculum designed specifically for a destination.

As a result of the near-perfect weather in Indianapolis throughout the week, visitors walked around the nearby downtown area and actively took part in local attractions, Kirkos said.

"We're hoping to leverage the lesser-known attractions that New Jersey has to offer against the big city (of New York) to make an economic impact on the state," Kirkos said. In New Jersey, that might mean weeklong packages to encourage people to ski in Sussex County, gamble in Atlantic City and visit the American Dream project in the Meadowlands, Kirkos said — a process that's already under way.

"I didn't find anything wrong with the way Indianapolis — a pretty small city in itself — did" the Super Bowl, Kirkos said. "We're just going to do it differently, because we are a different place."