HOTEL CLASSIFICATION

Issue: One single international hotel classification scheme?
Historically, hotel classification systems were developed to ensure safe and reliable lodging and food for travellers at a time when very few such trustworthy establishments existed. With the unprecedented growth of international tourism in the past fifty years, during which hospitality has reach the status of a mature industry, the focus has moved from consumer protection (generally guaranteed by national regulations and legislation) to consumer information. Today, standardization and competitive marketing of hotel services to foreign customers and tourist professionals have emerged as driving forces for instituting a local or national hotel classification system.

However, within the hotel industry the debate continues as to whether formal classification is in fact necessary or not - as instanced by HORESTA the Danish Hotel Association and the Israel Hotel Association, respectively for and against hotel classification at national level . At the same time, there are currently moves afoot in a number of world regions – Scandinavia, South East Asia, Middle East and even Europe – for some form of harmonised regional system.

As a result, the question of how hotel ratings compare across the world is periodically raised by various public and private-sector interests.

Attempts by international agencies to set up some form of international classification for the hotel industry crop up periodically, generally prompted by a desire to ensure better consumer information and provide some basis for comparison of establishments across the globe. See the IH&RA position against the creation of an international hotel classification scheme and read why attempts to create such a scheme are doomed to failure.

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