Travel magazines around the world proclaim Nashville as the “it city” to visit. Last year alone, more than 7 million hotel rooms were booked, and this is having a huge impact on our economy.
Flo McClean is a hospitality worker at the Hilton Nashville Downtown.
She works on the front lines of taking care of our city’s tourists by helping them with transportation, tours, and even getting tickets for sold out events.
“It’s great to have a job where you think you’re going to give them the best experience they can have while they’re in Nashville,” said McClean.
Keeping tourists happy translates into dollars.
When you book a hotel room here in Nashville you pay a combined 14.25 percent tax on your room.
All that money adds up and last year, tourists pumped more than $68 million into our local economy just by booking hotel rooms.
Tourism is so important to our local economy the Nashville Convention and Visitor’s Corp is awarding workers like McClean for outstanding customer service.
She was recently awarded with the city’s Hitmaker Award after being nominated by some guests from Knoxville.
“What they said in the letter where they nominated me was that I was friendly, and they noticed that I interacted with the other guests that way,” said McClean.
She also remembered it was one of their birthday’s and orchestrated a birthday surprise.
McClean said she felt like she was just doing her job.
“Working with Flo, she’s a great person. She makes everyone that she works with a better person, as well,” said her manager, Jeff Webb.
A different Hitmaker is honored each month and then invited to a big lunch at the end of the year.
McClean said working in the hospitality industry isn’t about awards or recognition, but about serving other and representing the city well.
“When a guest comes back in through the lobby and they’ve been to a restaurant or taken a tour and they look over at us and give a thumbs up, this is great. This is what I live for,” said McClean.
If you would like to nominate someone for the Hitmaker award submit your experience here.
