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Katie Klonowski, director of operations, Pura Vida said she wants her employees to take part in the training program so that they can have informative conversations with tourists. "We want them to say welcome to Cleveland. Have you gone to the Soldiers and Sailors monument? Did you know you can go inside. It's 100 years old. It's little things like that. Just go across the street and spend five minutes there."

(Plain Dealer file)

David Gilbert, chief of Positively Cleveland, said about $2 billion in tourism infrastructure is scheduled to be completed by 2015, but Clevelanders need to think about ways to keep tourists coming to Cleveland after all of the new buildings are no longer as shiny.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Positively Cleveland wants to make the city more appealing to visitors by first formally training residents to become civic boosters.

In June, the tourism group hopes to start teaching about 500 bartenders, taxi cab drivers, waitresses and others who interact with the travelers to become stronger ambassadors for the city. Dubbed CLE Travelbackers, the classes will focus on improving hospitality skills and learning about Cleveland attractions. The twice-monthly workshops will cost $30 a person.

"Cleveland has a communication gap, not a product gap," Positively Cleveland chief David Gilbert told a record-breaking crowd of about 550 people attending the organization's annual meeting on Wednesday where Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was the guest speaker along with Cavs President and Positively Cleveland chairman Len Komoroski. Last year about 350 people attended the annual meeting.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was a big draw at Positively Cleveland's annual meeting where about 550 people listened to him being interviewed by Cavs President and Chairman of Positively Cleveland Len Komoroski. Gilbert shared lessons learned with downtown development in Detroit and said he continues to invest in Cleveland because "It's a Great City."

"Now is the time to 'think big' in order to capitalize on the $2 billion dollars of investment we frequently reference," David Gilbert said. In 2012, he said, more than $395 million of tourism investments were completed in the Northeast Ohio with more than $1.6 billion in projects left to finish by 2015. "That means we look at our city as the desirable visitor destination that it is and we work to share this with potential visitors."

"It's not just about all of these new buildings. What we failed to do was think through the experience of life outside of four walls."

Part of that new thinking includes hiring Phil Bruno, president of Treat'em Right Seminars in St. Louis, Mo., to design the training programs.

Bruno said he spent four days in Cleveland as a tourist while developing the program. His summary: People are efficient and did their tasks well.

"There's a difference between service and hospitality. Service is what you do and hospitality is how you do it and how you make people feel."

"I don't think that people are bad, they just don't know that what they are doing matters. If we give them knowledge and let them now they have a choice of better behaviors they'll make the choice to do so for their own livelihoods."

Bruno has completed similar training programs in St. Louis and Philadelphia. He said both cities faced similar challenges in needing to train "front-line" employees to deliver a good travel experience to visitors.

"Those (tourism) commercials are promising you're going to feel a certain way. Well when you get to town who makes you feel that way? Hotel workers, taxi drivers, restaurant servers and anybody who comes into contact with the public -- even ushers at the ballpark," Bruno said.

The State of Pennsylvania hired him to work with six construction union laborers, after spending a half billion on a convention center, he said. They had a reputation for not being nice to people, which adversely affected convention business.

Last year, Positively Cleveland, the region's tourism and economic development group outlined its five-year plan that included helping visitors get around the city with better signs, improving transportation and forming a hospitality advisory committee to attract more tourists.

While the training program was just announced to the public today, a few organizations and companies that are a part of Positively Cleveland's program advisory committee already have pledged to participate including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum and Downtown Cleveland Alliance.

David Gilbert also believes small businesses will send employees as well.

Katie Klonowski, director of operations, at Pura Vida restaurant on Euclid at Public Square, said she plans to send 10 bartenders, hosts and members of the serving staff. She's motivated by the increase in tourism she's witnessing firsthand.

"You gotta be competitive," she said. "We're surrounded by four major hotels and we're dealing with more business travelers. We have more suitcases rolling in than ever before. We're serving more tables for one."

"Education is the key and the more information I can put in their hands the better off we are." she said.