Govt prepares draft amendments for hotel standardization

In a bid to improve the standard of hotels in line with international norms, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has made some amendments to the standardization criteria for hotels.

The amendments would include addition of deluxe five star hotels in the standard list, 20 percent increase of rooms in all star hotels, mandatory Wi-Fi, CCTV LCD/LED TV facility in all rooms of star hotels.

Earlier, the government has issued the order in the gazette entitled “Hotel Standard 1998” based on Hotel Lodge, Restaurant, Bar and Tour Operator Regulation 1981.
“In order to improve the quality of services as well as standard of hotels in Nepal, we have amended the standardization criteria in consultation with Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). The amendments would be published in the Nepal gazette soon,” said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesperson for MoCTCA.

The hotel standardization committee which included members from MoCTCA and HAN had come up with various suggestions, which have been forwarded to the Ministry of Law and Justice for final approval. “We have submitted the final document, which mainly includes improving the quality and management of hotels, to MoCTCA last week,” said Tek Prasad Dhungana, spokesperson for the Ministry of Law and Justice.

According to Prabin Bahadur Pandey, coordinator of the committee, the committee has focused more on modernization and standardization of the hotels, especially the star hotels. HAN has compiled with the standards of Hotel Association Thailand, Australian Hotel Association and Indian Hotel Standard to prepare the draft amendments.

Pandey also the executive member of HAN said the amendments mostly focus on star hotels. “We have added deluxe five star category, targeting upcoming chain hotels and existing five star hotels seeking upgrade,” said Pandey. The deluxe hotels should meet the criteria such as a minimum of 200 rooms, more than five food and beverage outlets, banquets of 6,000 square feet and above, vehicle scanning equipment and baggage scanner, among others.

For non star hotels, the proposed amendments include removing the criteria of compulsory parking area and adding up facilities so as to convert into star hotels. “The amendments for non star hotels are basically for registration,” said Sapkota.

source: republica,9 oct 2013