As a result of a surprise night tour carried out by officials and specialists of the provincial government, together with the mayor and deputy superintendents of the municipality of Holguin, on September 9 and 10, numerous deficiencies were detected in 65 restaurants the Provincial Company of Gastronomy Services and Accommodation (Empresa Provincial de Alojamiento y Gastronomía), Gastronomy of the municipality of Holguín and the Provincial Company of Services to the Arts, which resulted in mismanagement and poor control by managers and directors and disinterest and abandonment on the part of the workers, which results in disrespect for the client.
This situation led to an analysis with the directors of the companies involved, suppliers and leaders of other organizations, in which Ernesto Santiesteban Velázquez, member of the Central Committee and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Holguín, and Manuel Francisco Hernández Aguilera, Governor of the province, participated, insisting that “there is no justification for the negligence detected”.
After implementing a strategy to revert the deteriorated image of Holguín gastronomy, Radio Angulo recently broadcast a special edition of its program Puerta de Enlace, in which executives of the aforementioned entities and managers of several units participated, among them, the restaurants 1545, Venecia, Constelaciones, Polinesio, Los Tiempos and El Mesón, Guamá icecream parlor, Pizzería Roma and Bodeguita Holguín.
The appearance was attended by Ricardo Díaz Ávila, director of Gastronomy of the Grupo Empresarial del Comercio, who stated that the shortcomings pointed out by the officials constitute a “fair evaluation that has as a response a series of measures of an organizational nature that today allow to dynamize the gastronomy activity, in tune with the improvement of our sector, which provides us with greater business autonomy”.
Díaz Ávila said that thanks to self-management, many units, mainly Category II, show important advances in terms of comfort, stability and quality, even though there is still much to be done in terms of prices, so that these units will be able to offer a better service to their customers, with prices that suit the people’s needs.
“Unlike these, some Category III units have received help from the Company with intention of the Directorate of Economy and Planning to support the Network with better services, however, it is insufficient to meet the current demand”, explained the director.
He admitted that at the time of the visit they did not have an effective working system to periodically supervise the quality of the services, which caused, among other misfortunes, schedule violations and closing of units, lack of administrative staff in the centers, workers in a state of drunkenness, poor hygiene and scarce use of payment by QR Code or Transfermóvil.
“Everything was evaluated in a timely manner and we set out to immediately transform that image. As a result, Holguin’s gastronomy shows a different ‘face’ today,” he confirmed.
Díaz Ávila was followed in the dialogue by Danilo López Cruz, director of Gastronomy of the municipality of Holguín, who showed willingness to “be a solution and not a problem”.
López Cruz described the competition with other peers in the economy as fierce, but the aim is the same: to provide the people of Holguín with an excellent service.
López Cruz described the competition with other agents in the economy as fierce, however, the aim is the same: to provide the people of Holguín with a careful service, “for this it is essential to establish alliances such as those we have already achieved with the Culture sector to guarantee artistic talent in the most visited units and, in particular, in recently created spaces such as the Noches Diferentes” program.
He added that the design of the menu is another element that has a decisive influence on the distinction to which local gastronomy aspires, nevertheless, the price factor continues influencing, because the raw materials become more expensive according to the fluctuations of the prices in the market.
At another moment, Miriela Infante Rodríguez, director of the Provincial Company of Accommodation and Gastronomy (Epag), responded to the remarks of several of its units.
“We want to win back the clients, make them feel better”, Infante Rodriguez admitted, who knows that this can only be achieved with discipline and creativity.
The Epag director ratified that after the necessary analysis with the political and government authorities, those responsible for the units and their workers have become aware that what is not going well must be radically changed, “this way we get closer to what the people aspire, that is our reason for being”.
Every gastronomy unit must have an administrative officer on duty, who together with the room captain has the duty to respond to any dissatisfaction or suggestion from visitors, in addition to the consumer’s rights and the contacts of the Customer Service Office and the company’s directors, in visible places.
Among the managers and administrative staff invited to the Puerta de Enlace program of Radio angulo, the desire to transform the reality of their entities, including comfort, good treatment, quality and variety of the products and affordable prices, prevailed, which will not be effective without the support of the workers and the attention, first of all, to the demands of the customers.
The broadcast of the debate space dedicated to the gastronomic services in Holguín will be rebroadcast in its entirety next Saturday, September 14, at 12 noon, by the AM and FM frequencies of Radio Angulo, as well as on line through our web www.radioangulo.cu.
By Aniel Santiesteban García
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