Focus Media (Kigali)
Mercy Omuntu
12 November 2009
Last week, the EAC standards for classification of accommodation, restaurants and other tourist facilities were launched. This means that for the first time Rwanda will be able to officially label its hotels.
The Serena Kivu hotel is among those ready to be classified. (courtesy photo)
The standards were developed to ensure quality of services for visitors to the region, as stipulated in article 5 of the EAC Treaty defining the principles for cooperation in tourism and wildlife management.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, called the launch of the standards a gratifying and satisfactory achievement for the whole region in its efforts to market the EAC as a single tourist destination. "We have waited a long time for these standards, and the government is fully committed to immediately enforce them," she said.
It will have to, because the classification system is supposed to be in place by January. That shouldn't pose too many problems, though. Over the past year, the Rwanda Development Board-Tourism and Conservation has already carried out an inventory of the most likely accommodation to be classified based on the EAC criteria. People have been trained to assess the establishments, and a series of sensitization meetings were held with hotel owners and managers on the classification process. The Rwandan government will inject about Frw 110 million in the whole process.
Yet Minister Nsanzabaganwa pointed out that the government can only do so much. "Tourism is government-led but private-sector-driven," she said, "and once the standards have been applied, the government will have done its part. It is now up to the owners to push the sector forward."
She added that lack of proper accommodation has always been a major challenge for the sector, and that the standards would now set a benchmark for entrepreneurs. Moreover, she said, the standards will provide a roadmap that will guide the development of the tourism industry in the next ten years.
It is indeed likely that the new criteria will boost the industry, since they deal with essential facilities which are nevertheless often lacking in the country's accommodation. According to Emmanuel Werabe, the RDB director of tourism, the EAC standards indicate basic guidelines to start up a hotel business as well as the quality of accommodation, facilities and service. The minimum standards include safety and hygiene, water supply and fire safety, safe deposit, drainage, valid operating license but will also address employees' social capabilities in aspects such as grooming and communication skills. According to their level, hotels will range from the lowest one star to the top-notch five stars.
Tourist magnet
The benefits of this system are clearly demonstrated by Kenya which, unlike other EAC member countries, has had its own classification standards for many years. As a result, the country has become the biggest tourist magnet in the region. Uganda for its part was forced to adopt the EAC standards summarily in its preparations to host the Commonwealth heads of governments meeting in 2007, since it was essential to have suitable accommodation for such important international delegates.
Now that a uniform system is in place in the entire region, it will become much easier to market the EAC as a single tourism destination, since tourists will know that to whichever of the five countries they travel, five stars will guarantee the same level of services and accommodation.
It is clear, however, that initially a good number of hotels in Rwanda will remain unclassified, not in the least because of lack of qualified staff. Yet here too, efforts are being made. Over the last decade, several institutes have been established to train people on various levels of the hotel and restaurant business. Currently, there are 28 vocational schools, 5 secondary schools and 1 institute of higher education (the Rwanda Tourism University College).
Apart from that, more focused training is organized regularly for those already operating in the sector; for instance, the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) recently organized training in customer care and other hospitality skills for some 300 hotel employees in Rubavu and Musanze.
And that is without forgetting RDB's campaign on customer care which, although it targets the entire private and public sectors, obviously pays special attention to the hospitality industry.
Many Rwandan hotels, restaurants and other accommodation facilities have yet to make good on that promise of hospitality. Even though there has been improvement of late, the EAC standards might well provide the sector with a much-needed leg-up.
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