Kindness used as a marketing instrument for tourism
The mayor of NY imposes it by law, Harvard organizes course on kindness and we here in Italy, a tourist destination, can we do without?
dog with temper
This fact is more important than it might seem initially. In fact every year a world wide day for Kindness is organized. To be cared for, to receive kind words and to be surrounded by attentions betters our state of mind and makes us happier people. For this reason the ex-minister Brunetta wanted to force all public employees to be kind to the citizens.
There are those who take this so seriously so as to study the economic effects
of courtesy as a relationship paradigm able to set off a business transaction, increase sales and keep customers faithful. Kevin Roberts, the guru from Saatchi & Saatchi explained this with one sentence <<can I count your heartbeats?>> as if to say am I able to get you to love me? Others see it in a more fun light like Fiorucci who proposes the 4 kind gnomes for “love therapy”.
However we look at it the subject is important and to under stand it we can consider the reaction of tourists after a rough approach with a shop assistant
love-therapy
or a waitress.
It happens very often especially in large tourist destinations in Italy. Most usually the tourist give up and doesn’t buy anything, but it can also happen that the visitor will never go back to that location because the experience has left a negative trace in his subconscious, which makes him feel and undesired guest. Question, now here in Italy, with the present economic situation, can we afford such an attitude, or is it better to learn to smile?
Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini – based on the L’opinione di Annamaria Milesi on “Mark up” dated September 2012