Advocacy > Issues > Hotel Classification > Position
HOTEL CLASSIFICATION
Position
Attempts by international agencies to set up some form of international classification for the hotel industry are made periodically, generally prompted by a desire to provide some common basis for comparison of establishments across the globe.
Following an extensive audit and analysis of worldwide grading systems, IH&RA contends that current national hotel classification and grading systems already give an indication of the level of standard offered by a hotel in that country or region, enabling consumers to make an informed choice.
IH&RA believes that setting up an international hotel classification scheme is an unfeasible and ill-founded undertaking. Hard and fast quantitative criteria (eg room size, height of ceiling, construction standards, language proficiency, etc.) vary from country to country and even more so from one geographic region to another. Qualitative criteria remain highly subjective, particularly as regards delivery of services. In addition, IH&RA notes that consumers already have access to a broad array of guides and, more recently, to Internet-based sources of information. The fact that Tour Operators and other bodies, including on-line travel agencies, often establish their own rating systems, providing enhanced, current evaluations, further supports the position of IH&RA.
- IH&Ra opposes the concept of harmonising hotel classification at the international level on the grounds that creating a single grading system extending beyond national boundaries would be an impossible and undesirable task.
- IH&RA supports the idea of informing consumers on the facilities provided by hotels and resorts and therefore advocates consistency in the criteria used to describe tourism and hotel services.
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