GIVING ‘CLASS’ TO HOSPITALITY

Hotel grading is a fairly recent process that has come a long way since the 80’s.  Most African countries (Nigeria inclusive) do not have a methodical classification and grading system.  

According to the UNWTO, the establishment of Classification systems can be linked with environmental management and sustainability issues such as, improving the energy, water and waste efficiency of tourism administration and businesses.

As to how hotel grading compares, it is important to identify the responsibility of public and private sector in the classification process.  It is pertinent to note that public authorities have a social responsibility in ensuring minimum standards in safety and hygiene in accommodation establishments. The private sector on its part will have to come up with ways to add innovation to meet the demands for transparent information  delivery for destination, products  and services. 

Over the last few years, The UNWTO has been working  with international hotel and restaurant associations to develop a methodical guidelines on establishing national hotel classification systems.  This will provide a step by step guide that will assist hotel associations and tourism administrator to produce a rating system. 

For the sake of expediency we will look at hotel classification and grading as the standards delivery process- And shed light on the possible challenges therein.

The process of Inspection and Grading Criteria in hospitality requires three key elements-

1. Government or and regulatory board (ie tourism or hospitality regulatory board or and commission for the state)., 2. Legislation, and 3. PPP, private public partnership (with a grading agency).  

We will consider how these units may work together- 

A. Government: the government regulators provides the working or partnership structure and the monitoring machinery. It is their primary responsibility to ensure safety and hygiene standards. They also liaise with the local government and the state hospitality authorities in proving the details and figures that will enable the inventory process for the grading program. 

B. Legislation: this is a key area without which the grading, inspection and classification cannot take flight. It is the empowering element for the grading, which gives legal and enforcement powers to the government and their private sector partners. It also states specific working relationships 

C. PPP- the private public (government) partnership: this is the arm of the process that will develop the  “Inspection and Grading Criteria IGC” template and the on site IGC methodology template. Being commercially motivated, they provide the innovation that drives customer satisfaction and incentive to the business as a whole. 

Only a few countries in Africa have classification and a substantive grading methodology for their hospitality industry-south Africa is a leader in this effort.  

Classification of tourism accommodations is particularly complex. Some 'real' reasons and challenges for this is: 1. The constantly increasing diversity of types of tourism accommodations. 2. The second ‘real’ reason is the diversity of classification systems and its unspoken cultural and socioeconomic tainting- this point was well acknowledged by the UNWTO. 

Many questions continue to arise; what are the objective and the frame work, what systems for classification management to employ, what criteria, what are the monitoring and enforcement framework.  

Simply put the Inspection and Grading Criteria for hotels and the hospitality industry is essential to inform consumers considering it provides accommodation and lodging for persons away from home and or far from their usual environment. 

Classification and grading thus constitutes an indicator, a crucial piece of information that should give confidence to the consumer before, during and after their stay while according appropriate expectation for a particular experience and service. 

The second objective is the standardization for listings; this will allow vendors or go-betweens, like the tour operators, big companies and travel agencies, to have a reference with which to use in their business catalogues, for negotiating bulk rates with hotel chains or when preparing their travel 'specials'.

The third objective is that of constituting an instrument for marketing and promotion. When a hotel features its grading ‘star’, it enables it to promote its specific characteristics, their additional services, based on their ‘certification’ provided by their stars. It is also a useful  tool in measuring the development and standard of tourism infrastructure and commitment to business travel (which is a significant index in measuring inbound tourism in Nigeria)- It is an important element in promoting national or regional tourism.

A fourth objective is to use as quality-measurement tool to provide professionals in the industry with a coherent framework for consistent evaluation. 

This framework will consider the diversity of accommodation units (most of which are sole proprietorships with less than 10 employees).

Classification also serves as a reference for the implementation of public policies, such as the granting of subsidies or certain tax breaks etc. 

The Government of Lagos state is certainly poised to take advantage of this-for now it lay open to self appraisal by all hospitality operators. Their hope would be that their guests are convinced (or hapless) enough for return visit.

LLN