I am presently retired but I will discuss one of my previous employments. I worked for Holland America Cruise line in Alaska commonly known as Gray Line of Alaska. The company's mission statement was "through excellence we create once-in-a-lifetime experiences every time." The company provided tour packages that highlighted the many attractions of Southeast Alaska. One of the most popular shore excursions is Saxman Native Village located on Revillagigado Island, the location of the Tlingit Indian Tribe who are the original settlers of Southeast Alaska. First you view a short video that introduces you to the culture and history of Saxman. Secondly, the tourists are enlightened by the true culture of the Tlingit Indians through native dancing and carving of Totem Poles. Many of the brochures of Alaska state that Saxman Native Village has one of the largest gatherings of totems in the world.

The major concern was to achieve its mission while creating the greatest demand for the Holland American's Cruise Line tours and excursions. The desired goal was for tourist to prefer Holland America Cruise Line over its competitors Princes, Carnival, and Celebrity Cruise Line for their vacation excursions. The survey research approach was used to find out what their customers desired, liked and disliked. This was accomplished by passing out small brief survey cards to the clients (tourist) after the tours while the experience was still fresh in their minds. The customer feedback allowed the company to enhance its programs for improved customer satisfaction. Once the data obtained from the survey was compiled then analyze the company knew rather they should increase training, eliminate tours or dismiss some personnel. Because we consistently stayed busy and remained the tours of choice, we felt that we were using the optimal marketing action had been taken to achieve the mission. Understand that at that time computer generated requests were not used by the organization, and we were in a more rural area of Alaska where reception was not the best.