SafariLands.org: Hotels: Kenyan hoteliers lose out in new East Africa grading criteria

When the last classification of the facilities was done in Kenya, there was a hue and cry as most hotels felt it gave the wrong impression of their status.

Kenyan hoteliers are afraid of losing a large portion of their market to Uganda and Tanzania following the newly developed standard criteria for classification of tourist facilities within the East African Community.

This fear is grounded in the fact that though the criteria borrow heavily from the standards that Kenya has been using, the country does not have a tourism policy nor the capacity to enforce the instrument - unlike Tanzania and Uganda who have already developed structures for the industry,' said Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Calerers (KAHC) chief executive Mike Macharia.
He said the facility will favour the two countries as they have made major strides in regulating the industry.

"While the industry is growing rapidly at about 14 per cent annually, the government is still dragging its feet on establishing policy framework that would help the industry grow further.

"The tourism policy draft, for instance, was ready by early 20D4. The Cabinet duly adopted the document, but it has been stuck at a stage where only a sessional paper, would help expedite the process," he said.

Mr Macharia said the policy would review the archaic Hotel and Restaurant Act (HRA) Cap 494 responsible for major issues in the industry including classification.

The HRA which gives the guidelines on the criteria for classification was published in 1988 and revised in the mid 1990s in an exercise industry players say they had very little input.
Mr Macharia said that when the last classification of the facilities was done in Kenya, there was a hue and cry as most of the hotels felt it was not fairly done and gave the wrong impression of the status of hotels.

"From that time, no classification has been done, despite the fact that many new facilities have been developed," he said.
However, Kenya's Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, Morris Dzoro, was confident that the new tool, which has been developed by ministries in charge of tourism within the region, will boost standards at hospitality facilities.

"Best practices will be replicated regionally. For example the qualities of a five-star hotel in Kenya will be the same as in other partner states regardless of location. This means that tourism facilities whose standards have improved due to refurbishment and renovation or fallen due to neglect will be adjudged accordingly to reflect their status," Mr Dzoro said.

According to the minister, the new instrument was already being applied in Tanzania and Uganda. Kenya, he said, was planning to start using it from next year.

Latest developments in the industry like the Internet, satellite televisions, apartments and cottages are not defined in Kenyan tourism law. For that reason, Mr Macharia said, hoteliers have been pushing the government to allow them to use a private but credible classification body like the International Standards Organisation for the job.

"A country like South Africa is already doing that and we are confident that once that is granted, the organisation could easily serveas a marketing tool for our hotels through value addition," he said.
The new developments coming at a time when industry players feel they are under siege from the government following the introduction of additional levies that are likely to increase the cost of doing business.

Mr Macharia said that last year alone, hotels paid the government some $16 million through the 2 per cent training levy. Worse is expected as they await the implementation of the newly introduced Industrial Levy, under which hotels will be required to pay a certain fee every month for each of the employees under the new Employment Act.