UTB urges hoteliers to embrace classification
Golden Tulip Hotel General Manager Devendra Singh recieves a plaque and certificate from Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) chief executive officer Lilly Ajarova and UTB board chairperson Pear Kakooza in Kampala on March 27, 2024. PHOTO/EVE MUGANGA
What you need to know:
- Hotel owners also say the classifications will help them improve their rating status.
The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has called upon hotel owners and tourism stakeholders to embrace grading and classification of their facilities.
The call was made on Wednesday by UTB Chief Executive Officer Lilly Ajarova, during the handover of plaques to 35 hotels which participated in the recent national hotel certification and grading.
“The standard across the board is important for us to know that there is a one star hotel facility, two star, three star, four star and five star. People shouldn’t come here and experience a different product from what we are selling to them,’’ she explained.
Ajarova noted that while only 35 hotels have so far been graded and classified, Uganda has hundreds of such facilities that should be classified.
“If we don’t have that then the customers don’t know what they expect when they come to Uganda. It is, therefore, a marketing tool because once we are all graded and have the star rating then it becomes easier to market the country,’’ she said.
She further clarified that grading by UTB is totally different from classifications or recommendations made by other digital platforms.
“The customer rating done online only focuses on customer experience yet behind the scenes there might be a total mess. As government authorities, we help to make sure that the quality of service right from behind the scenes to the front is what it must be,” Ajarova maintained.
Uganda Hotel Owners Association executive director Jean Byamugisha said grading and classification also helps Uganda to bid for international conferences.
Devendra Singh, the general manager of four-star Golden Tulip Hotel, said: “We are happy to be a certified hotel.”
“This grading is going to help us improve so that we can be rated as a five-star hotel.’’
Meanwhile, three hotels were rated as five-star hotels in Uganda, and these include Kampala Serena Hotel, Sheraton Kampala Hotel and Lake Victoria Serena-Kigo.
Eight hotels attained four-star status including Skyz Protea Hotel, Mestil Hotel, Golden Tulip and Kabira Country Club.
Fairway Hotel, Admas Hotel Entebbe, Hotel Brovad, Acquarius Kigo attained three-star hotel status. Those rated as two-star hotels were nine and include Hotel Horizon Entebbe, K-Hotel Entebbe and Hotel Lavena, among others.
