Industry

Kenyan hotels to be graded afresh in drive to market tourism

balala

Tourism minister Najib Balala and Kenya Tourist Board managing director Muriithi Ndegwa address a press conference at Utali House in the past. The Tourism ministry will lead other sector players in classifying hotels, restaurants, and pubs as attention shifts to broadening leisure travel beyond Kenya’s famed bush and beach experience. File

Kenyan hotels will be classified afresh as part of efforts to help market the country as a tourist destination. The Tourism ministry will lead other sector players in classifying hotels, restaurants, and pubs as attention shifts to broadening leisure travel beyond Kenya’s famed bush and beach experience.

This follows Parliament’s enactment of the Tourism Act last April and the subsequent presidential assent in September.

The Act provides for the development, management, marketing and regulation of sustainable tourism and tourism-related activities and services.

“We intend to assess hotels and other facilities either annually or biannually.

“This will spur competition which will ultimately improve our hotel industry standards,” said Kenya Tourist Board MD Muriithi Ndegwa.

Since 2009, the hotel classification board has travelled across the world in a bid to come up with an acceptable grading criteria. Its work was, however, trashed last month when the Tourism ministry said the classification was wanting.

Speaking while launching this year’s Kenya Tourism Awards which seek to reward operators in the holiday business, Mr Ndegwa said appraising tourism service facilities would assist investors to establish opportunities by availing data on existing establishments.

The awards will recognise the best in tourist service provision facilities such as accommodation, entertainment, tour operators, air operators, travel agency, and tourist attractions. In the media category, a new sub class on digital media has been established to take cognisance of the role played by bloggers and integrated social networks in promoting tourism.

The move to grade tourist establishments is likely to profile Kenya as a destination for luxury sports like golf, conferences, and home-stay.

In 2010, a pilot grading of hotels was undertaken but lack of a comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks served as bottlenecks to the exercise.

Standardisation industry
The Tourism Act provides for the establishment of the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) that will be responsible for licensing, regulation, and standardisation of the industry.

Under the statute to be operationalised by July, services will be licensed and overseen by TRA.

The authority will take over from the Hotel and Restaurant Authority and the Catering and Tourism Development Levy Trustees.
The rating will be based on East African Community classification standards adopted in 2009.