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DeliciousBerlin (global-adventures.us): Choosing the right hotel could get easier in the European Union. Tourism and lodging associations in Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Holland, Hungary, and Switzerland have agreed on a common standard to rate hotels.
The new classification is based on 270 single criteria; where several requirements have to be met to reach a certain classification and voluntary criteria can be used to collect additional points. The new requirements are based on guest surveys. Accordingly, the classification system puts more emphasis on quality management, wellness and comfort.
The new system is administered by Hotrec - Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe. The organization was founded on December 14, 2009 in Prague to provide hotel guests with a harmonized classification system. It is expected that over time 21,000 hotels from all member countries will participate and have their rating reviewed. Germany reports that 8,000 hotels have already been re-classified since the beginning of the year.
A common marketing philosophy and similarly structured hotel markets dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises have favored the cooperation, says the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) in a press release. Hotrec hopes that other EU countries will join. "This initiative is explicitly open to other countries in Europe, which are also seeking to increase the quality and enhance the marketing of their hotel sector," says President Kent Nyström.
Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden did start to implement the new classification system in January of 2010. Hungary intends to join later in 2010 after putting the required legal framework in place. Hotrec expects that Switzerland will adopt the system in 2011.
The organization hopes that guests will soon benefit from a transnational, reliable guidance in their choice of a hotel – be it on a family holiday or business trip.
