(NewsNation Now) — A New Hampshire restaurant owner shows her appreciation for her employees by taking them on vacations every year.
Danielle Jones, owner of the Abenaki Trail Restaurant and Pub in North Conway, New Hampshire, said the idea sparked after one of her staff members admitted he hadn’t really traveled outside of New England.
The first trip the business took was to the Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida and the “rest is history” Jones said on “Morning in America.”
“We started offering our staff trips to wherever they wanted to go and we would go and we would get to tour the coolest places,” she said. Jones says she and her partner cover employees’ airfare, lodging and even some meals.
Restaurant manager Lindsey Bailey said the experiences have been life-changing.
“These are opportunities I thought I would never have. A year ago I would have never thought I was going to be swimming in the Bahamas in beautiful oceans and even be on a cruise,” Bailey said.
Jones says the trips are a token of gratitude for all of her employees’ hard work.
“These kids open our doors every day. They work really hard,” she said. “We basically just take some of the profits and put it back into the business and that’s them. They are the business. They are what makes this go ’round.”
Bailey says Jones’ efforts make her and other employees feel valued and appreciated.
“Appreciation is the best word I can think of. You work unbelievable hours at jobs that don’t give you recognition or even a thank you and here we have Danielle who is like, ‘Hey, here’s a thanks. Let’s go on a trip,’ which is outstanding,” she said.
Previous trips by the group include Mexico, Las Vegas, New Orleans and New York.