Yakima Tourism
August 27, 2009
[by MAI HOANG
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Paige Hutton's goal is to manage a hotel or run her own catering business.
She's pursuing a marketing degree full-time, while supporting herself and her 19-month-old daughter.
So it was the perfect situation when she was hired about a month ago by the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, where in addition to checking customers in and out, she's gotten training on working with large groups and helped develop room packages for the hotel.
"I thought the customer service jobs, which would be a good opportunity for me to grow, would be taken right away," the 26-year-old said.
Not so. While not immune to the recession, the local tourism business has held relatively steady -- at least compared to the rest of the state.
