Learning Objectives Learning Objectives After studying this unit, you are supposed to be familiar with preparations for the visitors’ departure; be clear about your responsibilities during the visitors’ departure; identify the formalities of seeing the visitors off at the airport be skillful at farewell speech delivery

Section A General remarks on a farewell speech Bidding farewell to visitors is the last important section of your responsibilities. A mere farewell speech might be easy to make, but it is far from enough for the farewell. As the local guide, you should try your best to make proper preparations and help the visitors wrap up their visit smoothly. Generally, a farewell involves the following steps.

Making Necessary Preparations Confirmation and double-check of the tickets You should remember to double check, usually one day ahead of the visitors’departure, or let the tour leader and visitors themselves check their departure arrangement.

Decision on time of departure from the hotel and the last meal Proper arrangement for the departure time from the hotel will allow visitors ample time to get everything ready. The arrangement should be based on the following elements: Departure details of the visitors; Suggestions from the tour leader and the national guide; Traffic conditions and weather conditions; Experience of the driver and yourself.

Relavant documents prepared In most cases, you should not keep the travel documents of the visitors. They should be reserved to the visitors or the tour leader once they are used. Remember to check your own personal belongings to see if you have kept anything belonging to the visitors.

From the Hotel to the Airport Luggage Collection Before the tour group leaves the hotel, you should take the responsibility of handing luggage over to the porter of the hotel. All the luggage of the visitors should be collected first. The you should work with the national guide and the tour leader to see how many pieces of luggage there are, and make sure each piece is well packed and remain intact.

Check-out from the hotel A tour group is supposed to check out from the hotel prior to 12:00 at noon. You should assist the visitors to finish this process at the front desk. If the check-out is made after 12:00 but before 18:00, half day's room rate should be charged from the visitors.

Getting onto the bus After evrything is settled in the hotel, it is time to get onto the bus. Don't forget to remind the visitors to check if anything has been forgotten in the guest rooms. You should make sure that everyone in the group is with the others before you leave the hotel.

Bidding farewell speech Remember that you are on the bus at the moment. And this is only one of the occasions when a farewell speech, either formal or informal, can be delivered. The farewell speech on the bus may cover a brief comment about sites tourists have visited. Or it can be a review about the visitors' travel in the previous few days. It is wise to repeat the most significant elements of the tourist attractions in your city briefly, which will surely deepen their impression, and

then make them feel it worthwhile to have visited your place. Departure at the airport You must make sure enough time is spared for the visitors' formalities at the airport. After the group arrives at the airport, remind the visitors to take everything necessary with them when they get off the bus.

Section B Farewell Speech A farewell speech is always considered the most important part of seeing the visitors off from your place. A good farewell spech can enhance the sweet impression about you and contribute to the good memories about their travel in your place. It offers you the last chance to express your warmth and hospitality and demonstrate your professionalism. At the samt time it might offer you the last chance to make apologies for the inadequacies in your service, and invite

some sweet suggestions for your future service improvement. The general content of a farewell speech might include the following points: Show your appreciation for the visitors' cooperation during your service; Briefly review their visit, and bring them back to the greatest moments of the tour;

Make sincere for any inconveniences or problems that have been caused by the fault of your service during the stay; Welcome any of the visitors' suggestions and advice for the improvement of your service; Make a brief introduction to the next destination of their travel; Expressyour regards for their families and friends if they are homebound; Express your warm wishes for their coming journey.

An experienced tour guide may find out a farewell speech can be organized in a variety of forms. And it can be delivered on different occasions. The visitors you are seeing off, as well as the time and venue are all the elements that might determine the way of your speech delivery. But no matter what method is adopted, the speech should be delivered in a cordial manner, so that your sincerity can be felt by your visitors. Say it clearly and

naturally, use eye contact, and pay attention to your articulation. Generally, farewell speeches fall into two broad categories; formal ones and informal ones. A formal one is always addressed to a tour group of important guests. An informal one is more commonly used by tour guides. It can be addressed at a variety of places. It can be either long, short. Some of the commonly used sentences for a

farewell speech might include the following: “Nothing is more delightful than to meet friends from afar.” “I’d like to say thank you for your cooperation \ friendliness \ your visit to our place.” “All good things must come to an end.” “I hope you have enjoyed our visit to your place.”

“Please allow me to say a few words on behalf of my travel company.” “ We look forward to meeting you again very soon in the future.” “ Please remember me to your families and friends when you return home.”

A Formal Farewell Speech at a Grand Farewell Banquet Respected Dr. David Stephenson, Vice president of Institute of International Education, and ladies and gentlemen, Your 7-day research after the annual international educational cooperation conference is coming to an end by tomorrow, and you are leave China very soon. During your stay in Beijing, I was entrusted by CITS to take the responsibility of providing you with necessary tour guiding service. At this moment,

I would like to say a few words on behalf of CITS. In the first four days while I was with you, we visited some universities, some research institutes and government organizations. We have attended a couple of forums and conferences. I was deeply impressed and moved by your zest and devotion to the cooperation on higher education exchange between our two nations. We feel very lucky and honored to have such cooperative partners as you are. In the remaining three days, we visited some famous tourist attractions in Beijing. I found every

delegation member was very cooperative, and willing to offer us his or her understanding. I felt very pleased to have been with you during your visit. Once again, I would like to express our appreciation of your coming to China and your cooperation during your stay. There we want to thank you for your friendship. For those whom you have talked to but are not able to come here to bid farewell, I ’ d like to express their gratitude. During your visit to the different Organizations and institutes, you have conducted so many warm conversations with the people from all backgrounds, from

government officials to students. Your comments and suggestions are so valuable for the development of our educational exchange in the future. Lastly, we sincerely hope that you will get the chance to come back to China in the near future. As you may have noticed, China is developing at such a rapid speed, I am sure that when you come back again, you will feel amazed at your new discoveries. China is such a large country, and Chinese people are hospitable people. We hold that: “ It is great delight to have friends afar. ” Since our friendship has just started to grow here, isn ’ t it a great joy for us to receive you as guests

again? When you arrive home, please kindly give our regards to your families and friends. Now ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses and join me in a toast: To the further cooperation and friendship between our two nations; To the mutual benefit of our educational cooperation; To the health of Dr. David Stephenson; To the health of our distinguished guests and everyone present here tonight. Cheers! Thank you very much.

An Informal Farewell Speech to a Tour Group Ladies and gentlemen, Your visit to our ancient and dynamic city of Chengdu has come to a close. It has been such a pleasure for me to have stayed with you in the last few days and have served as your local guide. You were very cooperative and friendly and that has made my job a lot easier. I hope you have enjoyed the time we spent together as immensely as I do. We hope that your experience here has left you sweet memories. Please forgive us if there have been any drawbacks in out work and

please feel free to give us your kind criticism and suggestions. We hope to offer you better service when you visit us next time. We look forward to seeing you very soon in the future. Thank you very much for coming to our city and using our service. Wish you s pleasant journey to Guilin. Goodbye!

An Informal Farewell Speech on the Bus to the Airport Dear friends, We are soon arriving at the airport. I t is a pity that we have been caught in such a traffic jam due to such bad weather conditions. After we arrive at the airport we will be busy with your check-in and other formalities and the departure hall has recently been crowded with tourists. We will possibly have no chance to say goodbye to each other. Now let me take the time to

express our thanks to you for your visit to our city. I felt very pleased to have been working with you as your local guide this time. I would like to thank you for your understanding and assistance in settling problems the other day. It was very precious for me to learn how to keep calm at the presence of difficulties. We felt glad that you have chosen Guangzhou, a modern and well developed city as your last stop in China. We hope that your brief stay here has left you a favorable impression of China and its development.

Now would you please do me a favor and fill out these service quality evaluation forms? Please make ticks in items you choose and write down your kind suggestions for our improvement. I would like to collect them before we get off the bus at the airport. We hope we can offer you better service when you come back for a second visit. At last, I wish every one of you a good journey home. Thank you very much.