For John Bamsey, chief operating officer Middle East and Africa, InterContinental Hotels Group – which operates the Holiday Inn Express brand, which is classified as a two-star property at Dubai Airport for example – the avoidance of star ratings in descriptions goes back to the customer.
“We classify rooms on a scale rather than through star ratings. We’re a midscale hotel, limited service, midscale sector. When you’re in the industry, there’s a lot of talk of two-star, three-star, four-star but the customer never talks in that language and they don’t understand it,” said Bamsey.
But do they realise limited service, budget and midscale could mean the same thing? Hajjar thinks so, thanks to the success of low cost airlines.
“The airlines are always ahead of the hotels and the marketing they have done has helped the hotels join the bandwagon in an easier way,” said Hajjar.
Podaras said that there was more confusion at the other end of the spectrum, however, where there are more quantifiable factors that need to be defined.
His suggestion was for a classification system where the star ratings were used as a minimum requirement for standards.
“A regulatory body shouldn’t be too prescriptive, so it should, therefore, come up with a set of standards that are essentially the minimum that you will allow. And they should have sensible differentiation. So have five categories, they should have enough scope within them, and then once you hit the top of each one, that’s the minimum — if you want to go above that as an operator or an owner, by that stage you’ll be using a brand or a name and it’s up to your own marketing to educate the consumer that you’re much better than the standard five-star,” said Podaras.
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What’s the solution?
The panelists agreed that more flexible systems were needed, and Hajjar emphasised the importance of putting something in place that was “practical, efficient and straightforward”. He demanded criteria with clear reasoning, that he could then debate and discuss with the relevant authority should it be necessary.
“I think it is probably the right time to clean the market and to try to come up with criteria that are easy for the owners to develop, clear for the operators to manage and clear for the customer to know what he or she is going to get,” said Hajjar.
Podaras said a one-size-fits-all system would not solve current problems, and said classifications needed to distinguish between types of hotel, whether business or leisure. Bathtubs might be required for a five-star resort for example, whereas showers might be more appropriate for a five-star city centre hotel.
“You need to have enough flexibility in the system to reflect the purpose for the property,” said Podaras.
He added that classifications should also recognise both hotel hardware, the facilities, and software, the quality of service.
Some countries are leading the way. The system introduced last year by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority has been well received, referred to by Podaras as “one of the best” systems he has seen. But as ADTA chairman Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan revealed in our interview on page 31, this had been under development since the authority’s inception in 2004, reflecting the sheer investment of time and resources that is necessary to get a system right.
Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing too is taking its time to perfect new criteria, currently in draft version, of a system that is in desperate need of being updated (see page 50). Meanwhile, Tunisia and Jordan have both recently announced new classifications. The Tunisian Federation of Hotels has so far classified 300 hotels (55% of its inventory) under a new system that emphasises safety issues, non-smoking areas, food hygiene and accessibility for disabled guests in addition to equipment and facilities. In Jordan, where the classifications are set by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the focus has moved away from the structural element of the hotel to being on the customer.
The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities HE Maha Khatib told Hotelier: “Therefore an item or an area would not be considered a standard for classification if it is not seen as beneficial for the guest.
“It is not the input in terms of investment or effort, but the output in terms of guest satisfaction that is the deciding factor in the choice of standards and the relevancy attributed to them,” explained Khatib.
“In this regard, the only physical element determined by the new system is the size of the rooms. The previous system considered many others, such as the size of hallways, swimming pools and the kitchen.
“The new system, for example, is not concerned about the size of the kitchen but instead looks at whether the food service is good and delivered in a timely manner, ad the food is of high quality,” she continued.
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