Rwanda tourism promotes increased customer care

(eTN) - Information was received overnight that the Rwanda Development Board’s (RDB) Tourism and Conservation Department has partnered with the hospitality industry to promote better customer care and service delivery across a broad section of hotels, lodges, and restaurants.

Twenty participants were drawn from the Quality and Standards Task Force of the tourism chamber; the heads of the sectoral trade associations for hotels, restaurants, and bars; officials from the Ministry of Commerce; and key stakeholders. This follows a meeting chaired by the Rwandan Prime Minister earlier in February, when the need to improve skills in the hospitality industry was discussed, following the concluded grading and classification of hotels in line with East African Community standards.

Ms. Rica Rwigamba, Head of the Tourism and Conservation Department at RDB, had this to say: "The hospitality sector is a service-oriented sector, hence customer care should be at the chore of every business success. Our priority this year is to ensure that businesses in the tourism sector offer high-quality service, and we are ready to work hand in hand with them to achieve this objective. However, we shall take appropriate measures for those that will not fulfill basic requirements."

It was also learned that RDB plans to "name and shame" establishments which fail to uplift standards and bring the tourism and hospitality industry into disrepute with foreign visitors, as well as local patrons, to ensure that failure to train staff and improve standards will not go unpunished – while at the same time awarding the best performing companies in a high-profile event.

Rwanda’s tourism sector has grown in recent years by leaps and bounds, and revenues and foreign exchange earnings have risen by nearly 25 percent again in 2011 to now over US$252 million.