Cathie

“I always like to say; ‘there’s never a stupid question’, because no matter what the question, our role really is to ensure the visitors have a great time, and feel valued and appreciated.”

“Village Hosts focus on making Whistler’s guests happy because without tourists and visitors, our town just simply doesn’t exist. We have contact with so many people over the course of a day and we have such a variety of people coming to ask questions. It is really fun and quite challenging! Working as a Village Host, and helping guests with so many different needs, opens your eyes up to things you wouldn’t otherwise encounter; from what is going on in around town with businesses, to community group organizations, important resort updates, road and highway closures, COVID safety information, to winter and summer activities, large festivals, smaller events, and social functions for all ages in and around the Village.

We answer a broad range of questions, from simple ones—we can be asked about thousands of times a season where the washroom is—to quite complex questions when guests are searching out the right person to help them, and need emotional support or accurate and useful advice. I always like to say; ‘There’s never a stupid question.’, because no matter what the question, our role really is to ensure the visitors have a great time and feel valued and appreciated.   Some questions can be tricky: there’s a bit of a knack to building rapport so a guest feels comfortable telling you more about what they want, so you can give relevant advice.   

What do people not know about the program?  I think people may not realize that many of the Village Host volunteers come from significant and very notable work backgrounds and are quite extraordinarily intelligent and talented people. With that said, each volunteer still goes through three unique training sessions before going out to the booth and it’s usually a surprise to them when they realize how much there is to know!   Another aspect of the role that people may not know about is that I enter events into the whistler.ca calendar, so – if you are looking to raise awareness of a community event – just let me know!”

More information about the Village Host Program:

The Village Host program runs year-round and has assisted over three million guests!  Led by the Village Host Program Coordinator Cathie and Village Host Team Leader Erin, four staff and an expert team of approximately 90 volunteers provide answers, directions and help visitors from two kiosk locations on the Village Stroll: in Whistler Olympic Plaza by the Olympic rings and near Village Square.

For information about volunteering as a Village Host and other volunteer opportunities with the RMOW visit: https://www.whistler.ca/volunteer 

Photo credit: Dave Buzzard