Kenya Re-classifies Hotels to Reassure Visitors

With the new classification of hotels and restaurants, tourists can comfortably make their choices and expect reasonable service.

The problem for tourists into any country is getting a hotel with good service. Even though definitions of a good service may differ depending on cultural perceptions, there are undoubtedly common expectations that are understood by all. And the best guide indicator is to look at the hotel classification.

As a leading destination for tourists, Kenya understands this. That is why the government has spent $190,000 in training professional hotel and restaurant assessors for a massive hotel and restaurant grading exercise now going on to stem rising criticism from key tourist sources.

The hotels and restaurants have not been graded for several years and the neglect, it is feared, may have led to a decline in quality, prompting constant criticism from important partners such as Britain and the United States, the source of most tourists to Kenya.

Assistant Minister for Tourism Cecily Mbarire admits that some of the five star hotels may have depreciated in the past three years, while some with lower ranking may have improved.

Rating Method

Rating is using the standard approved by the East African Community, the newly established Hotels and Restaurants Authority (HRA) said in a statement to the press. Over the years, and in recognition of the oneness of their countries, East Africans have believed that their countries would benefit from a common international marketing strategy. The establishment of the East African Community is an effort towards that goal. And the East African Community standard is aimed at creating uniformity in services offered in hotels and restaurants within the community countries so that they can be marketed as a unit.

“This will go a long way towards achieving the goal of elevating the East African region to a single market destination,” the HRA said. The community brings together five countries of Eastern Africa – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi in a borderless trading block.

“We initiated this private-public sector partnership arrangement for the implementation of the East Africa Community Standard and Classification System in order to further the EAC cooperation in the implementation of the regional classification scheme,” HRA said adding that, with the new classification, the “region will gain a competitive edge over other destinations.”

When the hotels and restaurants are classified, tourists to the region will be able to access information on the condition of hotels and restaurants regarding location, size of rooms, supplies in the bathroom and frequency of change of linen. They will also have information on the style, elegance, comfort, finish and luxury of the hotels and restaurants as well as staff grooming and communication skills.

Tourism is one of the four pillars of economic development the Kenya Government is relying upon to achieve its Vision 2030 –a blue print it has developed to industrialize the country by the year 2030. “Kenya aims to be among the 10 long-haul tourists destinations globally,” the government states in the blue print.

“To be ranked among the top 10, Kenya must expand her global and African market share by offering new products, expanding tourist expenditure per capita and by improving her international marketing strategies.”

Factors looked into while classifying a hotel include:

1. Physical and human resources (tangibles)
2. Services offered (and the price)
3. Facilities or assets condition and functionality
4. Facilities or assets use
5. Ways of providing a service to the consumer and time
6. Communication with the consumer

Other factors are those that determine consumer safety:

1. Existence and quality of standards
2. Execution of rights/compliance with commitments
3. Information

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