The Right Honorable Prime Minister of Uganda, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, will be the guest of honor it was learned of the formal announcement of hotel rankings in Kampala tomorrow.

The Ugandan Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, together with the Uganda Tourism Board and the Uganda Hotel Owners Association, had teams in the field to check out and assess each hotel in the capital, following an extensive catalogue of criteria developed several years ago already by the East African Community. Out of over 70 hotels inspected, however, less than thirty qualified to get into the star rankings, which will run from 1 star to 5 stars.

Each of the five member states was due to have the exercise completed a long time ago, but financial constraints, among other reasons, were the main factor for the delay.

This will finally put to an end the past practice of some hotel owners to glue any number of stars over their front door, which on closer look only makes experts shake their heads in disgust while clients who fell for the trick wonder how this can be allowed.

With the gradual introduction of such rankings across the East African Community, finally a direct and valid comparison be possible, and tourist visitors no longer can be duped into believing that they get a five-star product which ends up to be in the 3 minus range. The 29 hotels which made it into the star rankings in Kampala will be issued plaques for display at their front office, bearing official seals from the issuing authority.

The event will be held at the Kampala Serena Conference Centre tomorrow, Friday, June 26.

WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:

The Ugandan Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, together with the Uganda Tourism Board and the Uganda Hotel Owners Association, had teams in the field to check out and assess each hotel in the capital, following an extensive catalogue of criteria developed several years ago already by the East African Community.
With the gradual introduction of such rankings across the East African Community, finally a direct and valid comparison be possible, and tourist visitors no longer can be duped into believing that they get a five-star product which ends up to be in the 3 minus range.
This will finally put to an end the past practice of some hotel owners to glue any number of stars over their front door, which on closer look only makes experts shake their heads in disgust while clients who fell for the trick wonder how this can be allowed.