News Release North Platte/Lincoln County Visitors Bureau
The North Platte / Lincoln County Visitors Bureau hosted the annual Excellence in Tourism Awards Luncheon on May 5 at the Prairie Arts Center.
Twenty-five nominations were submitted for the seven award categories.
The ‘Excellence in Tourism’ awards recognize outstanding customer service at Hotels or other lodging establishments, Restaurants or other food service establishments, Events, Attractions, and Retail as well as Volunteer of the Year and Hero of Tourism. The nominees can either be individuals or businesses.
The Advisory Committee of the Visitors Bureau selected the award winners from the nominees and Executive Director Lisa Burke presented the awards.
The awards were presented to:
Restaurant - The Cedar Room
The restaurant category of this year’s Excellence In Tourism award nominations was one of the most competitive. Having an abundance of quality restaurants that consistently practice outstanding customer service is good for tourism and it’s good for our community. North Platte’s Canteen District is quickly becoming a destination downtown, and one reason for that is the hard work of Hector Ortiz and BJ Stenger of The Cedar Room. Their vision for The Cedar Room was for it to be a destination restaurant, something people would travel for, but also where locals would enjoy a feeling of being ‘away’ even though their busy lives kept them from traveling. Hector and BJ and the staff they have assembled always put customer service and customer satisfaction at the top of their priorities.
Hotel - Irene Pearson, TRU by Hilton
The position of breakfast attendant is one of the most important positions in a hotel. They spend quality time getting to know the guests and are often a guest's final impression of a hotel and community before leaving. Irene Pearson of the Tru by Hilton is not only an outstanding breakfast attendant, but an amazing ambassador for our community. She takes great pride in talking to the guests about the North Platte area and Nebraska. Irene was nominated because of the wonderful service she provides every day and the impact she has on the guests visiting North Platte.
Attraction - Nick Henline, Fort Cody Trading Post
A business doesn’t survive for decades, through multiple generations of owners and in different locations due to changes in transportation corridors without offering exemplary customer service. North Platte’s Fort Cody Trading Post, now with Nick Henline at the helm, is a landmark in western Nebraska. It is a nationally known tourist attraction that consistently gets rave reviews online. Photos of the Fort, the Buffalo Bill sign, the quirky merchandise, the miniature Wild West Show and the jail in the parade ground are some of the most frequently posted from North Platte.
Event - D & N Event Center
North Platte’s D & N Event Center is North Platte’s busiest event destination. The types of events hosted at the D & N is astounding. Weddings, receptions and dance recitals, volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball and wrestling practices, trade and craft shows, wrestling, boxing and MMA tournaments – something is always going on at the D & N Event Center. Every age range from toddlers to old time model railroad enthusiasts participate in events at the D & N Event Center. Tad Haneborg and his staff provide a vital community resource and always strive to extend the utmost in customer service to event organizers and the public.
Retail - Jeff Caldwell, Whitetail Cycle Sport
When your dedication to customer service not only creates loyal customers, but also brings families together, helps people live a healthier lifestyle and promotes your community you have truly achieved excellence. The stories shared by Jeff Caldwell’s coworkers, customers and neighboring businesses are endless but they have one common theme; A man who is passionate about cycling, passionate about his community and always thinking about others and how he can serve them.
Volunteer of the Year - Elana Ramos
There are always a wide variety of volunteer opportunities throughout North Platte, but the 2020 Covid-19 situation brought unique challenges and unique roles for volunteers. Our Volunteer of the year was recruited with very short notice when with only days to spare the Buffalo Bill Boxing Brawl got the go-ahead. To keep athletes, coaches and spectators safe, the usual weigh-in would also include Covid-19 screening protocols. Elana Ramos took charge of this process, organizing everyone involved to provide excellent and fast service for the athletes. A volunteer who takes charge and takes ownership of their area of responsibility and in the process make sure that event participants feel safe and welcome is invaluable to any organization.
Hero of Tourism - Kirsten Parker
In 2020 a Hero of Tourism not only worked hard to attract visitors to North Platte, but also to keep up the morale of the community when faced with constant bad news, business closures and learning of the illness and deaths of family, friends and community members. The year began on a high note, with hundreds of Group Tour operators being shown Nebraska hospitality as Omaha hosted the annual American Bus Association marketplace. Our Hero of Tourism helped do what she does best - organize a warm Nebraska welcome. By March everything had been upended and that in-person hospitality changed to virtual and social-distanced. Kirsten Parker guided her staff to take all of the upheaval in stride. They created virtual events for kids and adults, they organized social-distanced activities for the community and revamped procedures and resources to provide a safe experience for their visitors, staff and volunteers upon reopening. Kirsten’s focus on customer service, on making sure her staff and volunteers are safe, have the necessary tools and always go above and beyond in extending a welcoming atmosphere for guests at the Golden Spike Tower, as well as being creative in offering activities to the community certainly places her in the Hero category.