Hotels must pay for new rating scheme

Hotels and B&Bs will be forced to pay for inspections by the Quality Assurance Group (QAG) or face being shunned by national marketing bodies. The QAG, comprising the AA, RAC, VisitBritain, VisitScotland and Wales Tourist Board, could charge up to £1,000 a year to inspect properties across Great Britain from next year. Each member is free to set its own price for inspection.

Hotels which don't take part in the voluntary star-rating scheme will not be promoted by QAG members, regional development agencies or councils.
The new scheme, announced at the first UK National Tourism Conference last week, has won Government support. Richard Caborn, minister for sport and tourism, said: "Whitehall government departments will only adopt inspected accommodation for official travel."

The new ruling has forced the big branded hotel groups, traditionally against national common standards, to consider star accreditation. Wolfgang Neumann, Hilton president for UK and Ireland, said: "We're supporting the idea of a grading system but await final details of the criteria with interest."

At the other end of the spectrum, hotels and B&Bs which don't make a one-star grade can now be inspected at "entry level" for the first time. Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, denied the new regime was unfair to hoteliers. "The QAG is not going to market those which it has not inspected. Most hotels accept the need for a common standard." Details of the scheme are due in June, and inspectors will begin training on how to implement the common standards this summer.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 23 March 2005