Class act – EHMA’s Hans Koch

We all know that today's travellers are getting more demanding, and that they know exactly what they can expect from published rates and offers. People travel more and more, and are used to sharing their verdicts and impressions on social media and review sites. The earlier word-of-mouth exchange of information has shifted to platforms like TripAdvisor and Holidaycheck. It is through such outlets that a hotel now finds out how it is received by its guests.

Thanks to the internet, travellers can find out everything they need to know for their next booking with one click, via smartphone, tablet or laptop, regardless of where they are on the planet.

What can we do to meet the ever-growing demands of our guests, and to ensure quality? The Hotelleriesuisse created and owns the internationally admired Swiss hotel classification system, which heavily influenced the European system of Hotelstars Union.

Raising the standard

Under the patronage of HOTREC, Hotelstars Union was founded by hotel associations from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Today, the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Greece Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg and Malta are also involved.

The goal of Hotelstars Union is to offer a harmonised classification system based upon commonly agreed criteria and guidelines. That idea is to give guests transparency where standards are concerned, leading to confidence and assurance when booking a hotel in one of the member countries.

After all, travellers are looking for reliable sources that make it easier for them to choose accommodation, or an event venue, that will meet their expectations.

As hoteliers, we have a vested interest in supporting a harmonised classification system in our own countries and across Europe. We owe that much to our guests, and the advantages of being a part of it will benefit all of us because:

• we can create transparency of standards and guest confidence in our product
• the hotel classification system is a valuable marketing instrument, supporting effective branding
• Hotelstars Union classification standards are internationally recognised and help promote our image to customers
• it ensures development of standards and their implementation
• classification encourages and, at the same time, sets a benchmark for, quality management
• a stringent classification system increases profits among competitive hotel operators.

A consistent and sustainable classification system is particularly important for EHMA hoteliers. In order to meet highest-quality standards at first-class and luxury hotels, we must ensure that standards of excellence are tailored to an ever-changing market.

It must be a hotelier's priority to enforce and abide by standards. Thanks to EHMA and its members, a vast amount of experience and know-how is coming together across Europe. It is, therefore, up to us to help the Hotelstars Union and all its members build and maintain a harmonised European hotel classification system.

Keep the customers satisfied

Remember, a classification system doesn't just bring transparency to standards and quality assurance to our guests, it also benefits our employees. Clear criteria provide the foundation for internal and external training.

If staff are confident of being able to meet quality standards, their job satisfaction and performance increases. This, in turn, increases guest satisfaction and ultimately ensures the future success of a hotel.

Harmonised hotel classification is the formula for quality assurance and operational success.

Today's highly competitive, economically uncertain business environment gives us the chance to come together to promote greater transparency of standards and quality assurance to our guests.

To be successful in the future, our products must be competitive and hoteliers must be willing to compete on the basis of a harmonised European classification system.