THE KNESSET ECONOMIC COMMITTEE IS EXPECTED TO APPROVE ON TUESDAY THE NEW CRITERIA FOR HOTEL RATINGS IN ISRAEL, AS SUBMITTED BY THE MINISTER OF TOURISM; ONCE THE CRITERIA ARE APPROVED, THE MINISTER WILL SIGN AND THE TENDER TO SELECT THE COMPANY TO EXECUTE THE RATING WILL BE LAUNCHED
MINISTER OF TOURISM, STAS MISEZHNIKOV: "WE ARE MAKING A HISTORIC CONSUMER MOVE; AFTER 20 YEARS WE ARE BRINGING TRANSPARENCY BACK TO THE HOTEL INDUSTRY AND PROMOTING COMPETITION. WE ARE EAGER TO GO AHEAD WITH A MOVE THAT WILL REDUCE THE ACCOMMODATION COSTS IN ISRAEL AND WILL BRING THE ISRAELI TOURISM PRODUCT TO RECOGNIZED, HIGH QUALITY INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS"
For the first time in 20 years in which there was no standard hotel rating system in Israel, the Knesset's Economic Committee is expected to approve this coming Tuesday (14 August) the Criteria for Tourism Services (Hotels) 2012 – as submitted by the Ministry of Tourism to serve as the sole indicator of hotel ratings in Israel. With the signature of the Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, a tender will go out to select the professional body that will implement the ratings.
Participating in the rating system will be voluntary. Hotels and their rating will be published on the Ministry of Tourism's website. A hotel that is not rated will be identified as "unrated." The Ministry of Tourism is investing NIS 4 million in the new rating system which includes the costs of the initial inspection of each hotel, estimated at thousands of shekel, and a review of each hotel every three years. The hotels will be rated according to criteria under the European Hotelstars standards – because, among others, the majority of incoming tourists arrive from Europe.
Bringing back the hotel rating system in Israel was a main target indicated by the Minister of Tourism when he entered his position. This is part of a policy to promote transparency and objective information regarding the standards of hotels in Israel, improving the tourism product and further to that – reducing the cost of the vacation package in Israel.
In the past, all hotels required a rating which was carried out by the Ministry of Tourism. This rating system was canceled in 1992 and in 2001 new tourism services criteria were implemented in order to indicate registered hotels as opposed to unregistered ones. Despite that, many bodies continued to advertise hotels under star ratings without any formal basis.
The need to bring back the star rating system has been brought up on a number of occasions since it was canceled. In 2006, the Minister of Tourism at the time appointed a committee to examine the quality of tourism services and products in Israel, which recommended voluntary rating of hotels by a professional body. A similar recommendation was given by the Committee for the Reduction of the Cost of Vacationing in Israel which the Minister of Tourism appointed at the end of 2011 and is headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, Noaz Bar Nir. This committee will publish its recommendations within the next month.
As a result, the Ministry of Tourism has decided to reinstate the hotel rating system. According to the Hotelstars system, which is implemented in 11 EU countries, hotels are rated between one and five stars with the addition of a "plus" between stars for intermediary indications. The system includes 270 criteria which indicate the hotel star rating which include services offered to guests, the quality of the product, room structure, furniture, equipment and more. A public committee consisting of representatives from the Israel Hotels Association, the Tour Operators Association, Tour Guides and Incoming Tourism Operators examined the criteria indicated by Hotelstars and made the necessary changes to suit standards particular to Israel such as weather, kosher food, Shabbat, and security. The changes were sent to Hotelstars for their approval which has granted the Ministry of Tourism the rights to use the system while indicating that ratings are performed according to the Israeli system based on the criteria indicated by Hotelstars.
Main Criteria:
In order to begin, an advisory committee for the criteria will be appointed, which will be composed of two representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, two representatives from the hotel industry, and a public figure who has a good understanding of consumer protection in the hotel industry. The advisory committee will advise the Minister of Tourism on various issues related to the criteria and in general on issues relating to changes needed in the rating criteria.
A hotel interested in taking part in the rating system will submit a request to the relevant person charged with hotel supervision at the Ministry of Tourism. The request will be forwarded to the professional body with experience in rating hotels according to the Hotelstars system, which will be selected following the Ministry of Tourism's tender. The company will check each hotel according to specific standards and will submit results to a supervisor who will then decide the final rating.
The conditions for rating include a hotel business license from the local authority. The supervisor will provide the hotel with a certificate indicating the rating.
Ratings will be valid for three years. At the end of this period, a hotel that chooses to extend must submit a request for a renewal. Hotels will undergo a new examination after which a revised rating will be given.
A hotel may submit an appeal on a rating or any other decision indicated by the supervisor. The appeal will be discussed by a three member committee. The committee will be chaired by a lawyer qualified as a magistrate's court judge and will be appointed by the Minister of Justice. Two additional members will be appointed by the Minister of Tourism – a legal professional from within the Ministry of Tourism and a public figure with professional knowledge of the hotel industry recommended by the organization. If the Appeal Committee decides to change the original rating, the supervisor will decide on the new rating according to the decision. A hotel interested in changing its rating during the validation period (as a result of renovations or other improvements), will be able to submit a request to change rating.
The supervisor may submit a warning to hotel owners, cancel or question the hotel rating if there is any indication that the hotel is not meeting the rating standards or if there are shortcomings that can pose health or security threats to hotel guests. A hotel may appeal such a decision to the Appeals Committee and later, to the Minister of Tourism.
In order to validate the rating system and prevent hotels from rating on their own, hotels will not be allowed to use star ratings for promotional or marketing purposes that are not decided by the professional committee.
The criteria indicate that hotels will publicize the cost of services including all mandatory payments including tax. Prices for foreign tourists will exclude taxes that the foreign tourist is exempt from paying, with clear indication that the price is for foreign tourists only. These criteria will go into effect nine months after they are publicized. The old criteria will be void when the new ones are validated and the “registered hotel” arrangement will be canceled as well. Nevertheless, the "registered hotel" certificate granted to hotels according to the old criteria will remain until ratings are received or 12 months after the new criteria are in effect, whichever comes first.
