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By
: Heng Sopheap (National Institute of Management), Picture
by : Jon Bugge.
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With high levels of culture
the standards must also be high
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TOURIST
FACILITY QUALITY STANDARDS
Quality tourism results in a high level of tourist
satisfaction and at the same time, protects the
environment and culture of an area. Today's tourists
are becoming increasingly sophisticated and expect
good quality facilities and services, bypassing
destinations that do not meet their expectations.
Quality must be considered for both facilities and
services even though service standards are not as
precise and more difficult to measure than physical
facilities. Tourist facility quality standards are
often established at the national or regional levels
but, if not, they need to be, adopted at the community
level. In many cases, local communities are often
responsible for application of the standards and
monitoring quality levels as tourism is developed.
Minimum standards for hotels and other types of
accommodation relate particularly to health, sanitation,
comfort and safety standards. These minimum requirements
are typically applied through the |
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hotel licensing
and inspection procedures. Above the minimum standards,
a hotel classification system is commonly used to differentiate
the various quality levels of accommodation establishments.
Hotel classification systems are usually based on a one
to five star rating, but other systems are also used.
These systems serve a useful purpose in indicating to
travel agents, tour operators and tourists the general
quality levels of the accommodation facilities in an area.
Using it as a basis for deciding which facilities to select
before tourists arrive at their destination. There is
typically a correlation between room rates and the star
rating of hotels.
Hotel classification systems also provide a framework
to hotel investors in designing their facilities to attract
the desired market groups, and an incentive to the hotel
owners and manager to upgrade their facilities to higher
standards. They are particularly useful in newly developing
tourism areas, where entrepreneurs do not yet understand
the importance of applying quality standards and what
standards should be used. Hotel classification systems
are relatively complicated to prepare and apply, but many
successful models exist for various regions of the world.
Restaurants must also meet minimum health, sanitation
and safety standards as part of their licensing and inspection
process. In some countries, restaurants are classified
according to a rating system. In other places, those restaurants
meeting international standards are designed as being
suitable for tourist use and are typically called tourist
restaurants. This designation can be especially important
where there is concern about the hygienic and sanitation
standards in local restaurants.
Tour and travel agencies should meet minimum standards
of maintaining qualified staff and being financially responsible
as part of their licensing requirement. Tour guides should
be properly trained and an examination and licensing procedure
applied to tour guides. Tour agency quality standards
should include: that any tour buses, cars and other vehicles
are efficient and safe, and that vehicle drivers are properly
licensed. This also applies to car rental agencies. Other
vehicles used by tourists such as taxis and tour boats
should, also meet safety standards and be operated in
a safe manner.
An increasing number of countries have adopted consumer
protection legislation for tourists. This legislation
requires that tour and travel agencies accurately describe
the tours that they are selling and clearly state the
tour pricing. They should then actually provide the type
and quality levels of tourist experiences, facilities
and services promised in the tour program. If they do
not, they are liable to be sued by the tourists involved. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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