Pinay hotel manager among nominees for Singaporean tourism award

Years of working overseas had finally paid off for a Filipina manager at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Singapore, after she was nominated for a customer service award.

Sheila Marie Tan Benzon is the only Filipino nominee for the Customer Service-Hotel category of The Singapore Experience Award 2014, the sixth inception of the Singapore Tourism Board event.

The category recognizes the excellence in customer service by individuals in various fields. It was previously only open to taxi-provider services, according to the Singapore Tourism Board.

Some reviews on TripAdvisor.com, a tourism review site, have good words for Benzon, describing her as a helpful and reasonable employee.

In a questionnaire, Benzon cited several incidents where she lived her motto of "pursuing excellence beyond expectations."

One notable incident had her visiting a Mexican guest who had been hospitalized due to sudden illness instead of attending an awards ceremony.

The guest's son was so moved by her gesture that he wrote about her in a piece called "Cliente de por vida" (Customer for Life!) for El Norte, a daily newspaper in Mexico.

Another incident found her acting as a marriage counselor for a couple on the verge of separation.

She managed to help them work through their issues and surprised them with a care package the next day reminding them of their familial ties.

Benzon believes that "an extraordinary attitude" is needed to land "an extraordinary job."

She said her past experiences of peddling her resume to various hotels and house-cleaning jobs for money turned "excellence" into a daily habit.

"You don't need an extraordinary IQ to land an extraordinary job. What is needed is an extraordinary attitude. It will empower you to turn extraordinary things into something extraordinary," she said.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Benzon started work at the Ritz-Carlton in April 2012 as a Front Office Supervisor before getting bumped up to a manegerial position in November 2013. Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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