Real-Life Decision Making
Travel guides often need to organize people into groups who will travel
together. Making compatible groups is a challenge that travel guides must
face.
You are working as a travel guide for a company that gives guided hiking
treks through the Canadian Rockies. The hikes take groups through Banff,
Johnson Canyon and Lake Louise, finishing with a naturalist hike to the Columbia
Icefields.
You have guided many hikes at all skill levels and are very familiar with
the terrain. You know the skill levels required for the different hikes offered
by your company. You know that it is important to group your customers so
that they can hike at the pace and over the terrain appropriate to their skill
level.
Today you are working in the office. A man has phoned you and wants to
make a reservation for his family to join a hike tour. You are delighted.
You explain the different hikes that your company gives and tell him about
the skill levels that are required for the different hikes. You ask him about
his family to determine what hike would best suit their needs.
He tells you that his children are both under 10 years old. You recommend
a hike that requires a low level of hiking skills and stamina. You explain
more about the physical requirements for this type of hike and describe the
highlights of what they could expect to see and do while on this trip.
He asks to join an advanced tour, which you know is quite strenuous.
Your company accommodates families, but recommends that families with young
children join easy or moderate groups. You are fairly certain that the hikes
at the advanced level are too difficult for children under 10 years old.
Having these children along may slow down the hike for others on the trip
and could be a safety risk.
When you tell this to the man on the phone, he insists that his children
are capable of taking the advanced tour. He tells you that if you won't accept
his reservation, he'll make a reservation with another travel guide company.
"We plan long trips according to skill level," says Sandra Crooker, a travel
guide. "Families with kids fall into the moderate hike category."
You want to accommodate this customer and his family, but you are worried
about the safety and skill level of the children.
What do you do?