Tanzania's hotels seem poised to get some new ratings, according to eTurboNews. Travel industry professionals will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, next month for the debut Africa Hotels Investment Forum, and will reportedly use the opportunity to launch the second phase of hotels classification in the northern region of Manyara.
This exercise is the second in sequence, after the first one carried in the two Indian Ocean zones, involving the coastal region and the capital city of Dar es Salaam. Classification of tourist class hotels and other accommodation establishments is being executed by the East African Community in all five member states of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The exercise to classify hotels has been initiated by the EAC members in efforts to improve tourism services and hospitality sector in the region and stimulate competition in service delivery, efficiency, and responsibility among the governments and the business stakeholders in travel and tourism sectors. More than 60 hotel inspection experts have been trained in the five nations for executing the classification and evaluation duties in grading the properties.
Despite the "mushrooming" of hotels in the coast region and Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam, only three hotels were qualified to the five-star status out of the inspected 66 accommodation establishments picked for grading.
The first classification exercise was carried during the first months of 2010 and picked Movenpick Royal Palm (now Serena Dar es Salaam Hotel), Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinski (pictured above, now the Hyatt Regency the Kilimanjaro) and Sea Cliff Hotel as the only accommodation facilities qualified for a five-star status. During the process, 25 hotels were graded at three-star class, 12 hotels scored a four-star grade, 16 other hotels were graded a two-star class, and 10 properties were classified a single-star class.
The standardized classification is poised to help promote "higher quality" tourism facilities and better management of the hospitality industry.
To be held at the InterContinental Hotel from September 25 to 26, the AHIF agenda will focus on how to capitalize long-term on the opportunities presented by Africa and strategies to overcome the challenges facing the hotel and accommodation sector throughout the continent.
