Time to hitch your wagon to a star

Posted by Cameron Ewart-Smith on 3 September 2010

Considering the importance of tourism in the greater South African economy it is strange that our accommodation star grading system if so fraught with difficulties. That’s why I can’t wait for next Fridays talk by Thembi Kunene – Chief Quality Assurance Officer of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA ) at the inaugural Getaway Tourism Conference. He will be unpacking the reviewed criteria and entry requirements that will be effective from 1 October 2010. Inherently I am suspicious of “˜independent’ grading system as they never seem to work as well as they should theoretically. Don’t get me wrong – I think the concept is excellent, just the implementation that is “¦ how should I put this “¦ challenged. One of the biggest failings of the system is its failure to communicate effectively what the stars actually mean. Everyone knows that Five Star is fancy but what is the difference between Five and Four (often not necessarily the quality of the place in question).

In the TGCSA’s defense it’s am immense task and incredibly difficult. And possibly that is where travel magazines and journalists can be of some assistance. We need to work together to understand what this system means – hell we should almost undergo the basic training to become quality assessors so that we can accurately inform our audiences of the intricacies involved. This is a two way process – people are very quick to criticize and complain about the system, but few have spent any time whatsoever trying to get a better understanding of the Grading Council’s work. So Thembi I look forward to your talk and this editor at least has his hand up”¦ What does Three Star really mean?

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