International rating agency to pin stars on hotels in future
The government is planning to appoint an international rating agency for classification of hotels in the country to improve on their standards and service delivery, a top state tourism official said this week.
“We are looking at an international rating company to bring up the standards of the hotels,” Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Paddy Withana said during an interview with the Business Times on Wednesday.
He pointed out that hotels have to improve on their service levels following which they could demand a better price.
However, he pointed out that once the star classification of the hotels was carried out they could not arbitrarily increase prices.
Questioned as to why Sri Lanka is too high priced compared to other destinations, Mr. Withana refuted this claim stating “I don’t think the rates are high” and explained that what needed to be done on the other hand was to improve the standards of the services at current rates.
He explained that in this respect, the minimum rate structure was a positive aspect as most hotels would not be losing out like how they did before as a result of which service charges increased substantially.
Commenting further on the service levels, the Chairman said the quality of staff also needed improvement for which the Hotel School needed to have the right quality personnel that could be brought down at higher prices to teach potential hotel industry workers.
Mr. Withana said each hotel needed to have a proper counselling for its staff in addition to the provision of benefits to entice workers to stay on for longer.
With service charges having increased workers were able to positively compare salaries with counterparts in other countries, he explained.
But Sri Lankan village folk still were unable to grasp the importance of working in this sector and in this regard they needed to create increased awareness for young people to join this workforce.
Visitors to the country spend on an average US$160 per day out of which approximately 20 per cent is said to trickle down to the local communities; Mr. Withana said.
He added that Rs.100 million would be spent to ensure domestic travellers visiting key attractions in the country including religious sites would be provided with improved services.