Ethiopia’s Hotel Rating Assessment Project Fails

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The hotel rating assessment project launched last year has finally failed to make it as anticipated by industry observers and hoteliers. Pursuant to the Ministry of Trade’s instruction last year that when businesses come for license renewal they should bring with them a competence certificate from the respective ministries and government agencies, hoteliers were promptly made to have their facilities rated without getting ready for it.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) has for several months now been reviewing the rating assessment report, only to discard it.

“We have received the hotel rating assessment report from Addis Ababa and all the regions outside,” Sisay Teklu, coordinator of Tourism Services Competence Accreditation Directorate with Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told The Reporter. “However, because of the fact that the right preparation for the hotel rating task had not been accomplished prior to the assessment, particularly when it to the recruits who conducted the assessment without having adequate training, the result obtained, or the assessment is not the expected one.”

Sisay said that the hoteliers were also given short time to prepare themselves and make their facilities more fit for the rating.

“We have to check out the shortcomings to accomplish the task and that is what we are doing now, he said. “Because if we accept the assessment report and give the rating accordingly, we will make it internationally recognized and that will hurt the [image of] hoteliers and the country as well.”

Yet, the expert remarked that this does not mean that the rating will not be made.

He said the MoCT will do more work to bring about lasting hotel rating, hence postponed the time.

“We have sent our hotel rating criteria to the World Tourism Organization; they will compare it with the international standard criteria and return their report to us. Representatives of World Tourism Organization are scheduled to come here in one month’s time or so and do field assessments,” Sisay said. “We will then reconcile the criteria in accordance with the domestic fundamentals. After that we will be resuming the task anew.”

There are over 300 hotels which are expected to be fitting for star rating standard, of which 100 are in Addis.

Source: The Reporter