Hoteliers keep pursuing their initiative towards harmonising the classification system (stars rating the hotels) across Europe. Already 15 countries within the Hotelstars Union have made commitments to abide by identical standards. In January the Czech Republic took over the General Secretariat of this European alliance for a one-year period from Switzerland.

A meeting of the Hotelstars Union Task Force has taken place in Prague with the attendance of representatives from other European member countries. Following a number of studies, a review is currently under way of the criteria addressing the facilities and scopes of services provided by hotels classified in compliance with the Hotelstars Union standards. Being one of the founding members, the Czech Republic joined the system as early as in 2009.

The aim of the meeting in Prague and the ongoing process is to define the needs and preferences of customers on the basis of a dedicated study whose outcomes are going to be released at the occasion of the ITB Berlin. Following that test classification will take place in some of the member countries. As the customer needs and technologies develop, such aspects as the internet accessibility are being perceived as increasingly important alongside the more traditional ones, e.g. comfort of sleep. The revised and tested criteria for hotels in all categories will be gradually implemented in the individual member countries from the year 2015 onwards.

The classification of the Hotelstars Union provides an unequivocal guarantee of the scopes of services and hotel facilities corresponding with the number of stars the hotels quote in their offers, thus ensuring fair business conditions in the accommodation services area at the same time.

ANN.Az