Hotels in Ghana to get service standards

The Ghana Hotels Association (GHA) is to launch service standards for members. The association comprising 1000 member hotels of various grades would launch the service standards for the industry, to harmonise service operations.

“Even though there is in place the ECOWAS harmonised standards, these are guidelines for the development of hotel infrastructure,” Mr Herbert Acquaye, National President of GHA said.

He said: “Service standards which are at the core of hotel operations are absent.” The situation has led to inconsistent levels of service in hotel facilities, resulting in unsatisfactory services to guests.

The service standards is expected to harmonise service operations in the hotel facilities; thereby improving on guests’ satisfaction.

The GHA has already undertaken the following consultative events including stakeholder consultation to discuss current problems, advocacy training for members of the association, research into some of the existing service standards being used elsewhere to incorporate best practice and sensitisation and dialogue programmes to facilitate acceptance and enforcement of the standards.

In the next few weeks there would be dialogue with key stakeholders and targets of advocacy to facilitate the validation of these standards, monitoring and evaluation of feedback from these new service standards.

In view of the association the implementation of these service standards would help the GTA to evolve new criteria for inspections and grading and serve as a benchmark to guide various grades of hotels to produce appropriate policies and procedures.

It would also develop simplified regimes for regulators’ inspection, grading and granting of permits and improve service delivery and patronage. Founded in 1975, the GHA is the largest body of the various grades of hotel facilities operating in the country.

The association’s vision is to see to the establishment of a vibrant hospitality sector, whereby all hotels in the country would have qualified/trained personnel, who would merit international standards and offer flawless service to visitors and boost tourism to become a leading sector of the Ghanaian economy.

The service standards would enable the association and its members to provide harmonised home-away-from-home services to guests in all hotel facilities.