Government and other stakeholders in the tourism industry are optimistic that the waiters’ race will be a key option for improving service delivery and customer care in the industry.

The race, which engages waiters/waitresses in the country in a five kilometre fast walking race while carrying a serving tray with a bottle and two glassfuls of beer, is aimed at helping the participants to be fast and effective while delivering services to customers.

 Rica Rwigamba, the head of Tourism and Conservation at Rwandan Development Board (RDB) says that such competitions, if fully promoted, would boost the level of service delivery and bolster tourism receipts.

"Customer service is key for tourism to grow and prosper; such races improve the service delivery in the industry,” she said on Sunday during a ceremony to reward the winners in this year’s race at Top Tower Hotel.

She also noted that waiters/waitresses play a crucial role in the sector, thus a need to be recognised and commended for their efforts.

"For a person to decide the hotel to go to depends on the service delivery but the hotels are just structures. Waiters are the image and the force for hotels. This shows how important their job is,” Rwigamba said.

According to the Managing Director Rwanda High Development- RHD, Diana Ramarohetra, who is also doubles as the organiser of the race said that: "This race is to show that waiters are not slow. It helps to tell who has the best services in Kigali.”

 Ramarohetra added that since its inception last year, great improvement has been registered among waiters who participate in the race besides creating competition among the hotels.

Vicent Nzigira, the assistant food and beverage manager at Serana Hotel which has won this year’s race trophy said that the competition helps them to rate their staff on efficiency and speed in serving customers.

This year, Lemigo hotel’s Sandrine emerged the winning waitress, while Mupenzi Ferician of Serena emerged the best waiter, with Serena taking it for the second consecutive time.

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