Cruising to Success

Ms. JoAnn Boone
CEO of Rio San Antonio Cruises

"I had absolutely no experience in running a business of this size," reflects JoAnn Boone, CEO of Rio San Antonio Cruises, in a surprisingly direct admission about her taking over the company in 2002. "But from the day I walked in - to today - the best advice I ever got was to hire smart people."

Her comments reflect both her typical candor and her unflagging optimism. When she took over Rio San Antonio Cruises in October 2002, the company had just come through the economic aftermath of 9/11. "The company's business had slowed, but it had stabilized, and I knew they had good people. I felt that the basics of the business were solid."

The River Walk is, of course, one of San Antonio's trademark destinations. Every year millions of tourists visit the city, and just over 1.5 million of these visitors make it a point to include a river barge cruise on the River Walk in their plans. Rio San Antonio Cruises, under an exclusive city contract, has been taking passengers along the world-famous River Walk, or Paseo del Rio as it is known in Spanish, since the 1940s.

"I always wanted to get into this particular business and was very familiar with the company from having done river promotions and river events with the prior operators," said Boone. "But I soon discovered that it is one thing to do business with a company, and another thing to actually run that company. I had always been an employee with no profit responsibility and I had to learn all on my own. My first step was to build the staff. I was able to hire back several former employees. And, since I had no professional connection to the business before the purchase, in many cases I could make more objective decisions about hiring and firing."

"I can't say too many times that the best advice I ever got was to hire smart people. I know that many people look first for experience. But I believe that smart people can learn any business and, in my particular case, common sense came through. For our business, I have found that it really helps if someone has had experience in providing a customer service. But they don't have to have worked on a boat or cruise line. First and foremost, I want people who really understand that we need to appreciate our customers.and to show that appreciation in the quality of the service they give.

Because I put such an emphasis on our people, I personally approve all hiring and firing, I don't see it as micromanaging, it's too important to our business. I see it as a primary responsibility of senior management. Like a lot of service providers, we're selling customers an experience. Everything we do affects that experience, so we try to build a relationship with our customers, even if it is only for a few hours."

Because I am so focused on building a relationship with our customers, I insist that we constantly monitor our appearance and performance in delivering a personal experience that they will both enjoy, remember, and talk about. Because we do very media specific advertising, our business comes largely from word of mouth as well. You can book a cruise on one of our boats from virtually any hotel in the city and we work with dozens of restaurants for catering."

Today, Rio San Antonio Cruises is San Antonio's largest single city contract and owns 42 boats, or as Boone stated more accurately, barges. "They are all exactly the same. That makes operations and maintenance so much easier."

"There is no other city with a River Walk like ours. We get calls every month from cities around the country and around the world wanting to re-create the River Walk in their city. I tell them, "Good luck." In my mind, there is only one River Walk, and one Rio San Antonio River Cruise."

San Antonio River Cruises offers options for cocktails or dinner, sit down or buffet, for private parties or public rides. With the exception of one week when the river is drained and cleaned, the cruises run 51 weeks a year.

For more information about this company, visit their website at: www.RioSanAntonio.com