BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
ADDIS ABABA – The newly-held hotel rating is vital to maintain a competitive spirit, improve service quality, enhance customer experience, and boost the Ethiopian hospitality industry’s global position, the Tourism Minister said.
The Tourism Ministry announced on Thursday the star classification results of 31 hotels that have met the mandatory criteria set by the World Tourism Organization. Among the 64 star-designated hotels in 2022 and 2023, seven are ranked four stars and another nine ranked three stars.
Also, five hotels are ranked 2 stars and another eight ranked one star, while two hotels are below the standard. These hotels are located in Addis Ababa as well as Bishoftu and Adama towns of the Oromia State.
Speaking at the event, Tourism Minister Nasise Chali stated that hotel grading is of great significance to boost international competitiveness and improve service delivery to tourists and other customers.
The classification also helps tour operators, conference and exhibition organizers, international communication channels, and their customers as well as service providers to carry out trust-based promotion work.
There are many obstacles to the development of Ethiopia’s tourism industry and one of which is the low level of quality and competitiveness of tourist-friendly services. Therefore, it is important to improve the quality of the hospitality service and boost the hotels global competitiveness, and increase the satisfaction of guests, she elaborated.
Nasise further highlighted that through providing professional support and supervision to hotels in all parts of country, including Addis Ababa, the ministry has made consolidated efforts to enable them to comply with mandatory requirements including fire prevention, health care, utilities and other standards.
“Before tourists come to Ethiopia for a visit, the hotels and facilities available in the destinations they visit are used as a source of pre-visit information to estimate the level of service quality. It is also known that the classification system has a significant role in enabling fairness and transparency in government service procurement.”
By increasing the capacity of local experts, 91 hotels were given different ratings in 2019. Out of the 456 hotels, 340 have been rated from one to five stars, and the rest are below the standard, the minister remarked.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 30 MARCH 2024
