Region scores first as CTO-administered service excellence program up for Hospitality Assured award

In what is a first for the Caribbean, a Jamaican resort is in contention for a major award from the initiators of a certification program that promotes and rewards the highest standards of service excellence in the hospitality sector, and which is managed in the region by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

Round Hill Hotel and Villas is a finalist in tomorrow night’s Hospitality Assured (HA) 20th anniversary awards at The Park Plaza at Westminster Bridge in London, UK.

Round Hill is one of the three finalists for the Hospitality Assured Team of the Year award at the event, which will be held in conjunction with the Institute of Hospitality, the professional body for individual managers and aspiring managers working and studying in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry.

“We are extremely honoured to have been selected as a finalist for the Hospitality Assured Team of the Year award. We have enjoyed the journey and the partnership with the CTO. This effort has led to many achievements both for the hotel and our valued team members. The lessons learnt will forever remain as we seek to build on the traditions and history of Round Hill,” Josef Forstmayr, the managing director of Round Hill Hotel and Villas, said.

In 2007 the CTO partnered with the U.K-based the Institute of Hospitality (then the Hotel and Catering International Management Association), to introduce Hospitality Assured to the region, and currently holds the licence for HA in the Caribbean. Since then over 80 companies in 17 CTO member countries have signed on to the certification programme, with 34 being certified.

Hospitality Assured is seen as the standard for service and business excellence in the hospitality industry. The programme provides a series of performance indicators against which an organisation can continually evaluate and measure its performance with respect to service quality, and promotes an organisational climate of continuous improvement.

Additional features include the gathering and sharing of benchmarking data among the companies involved in the programme and the use of the Hospitality Assured mark in recognition of world class performance in service delivery.

Round Hill Hotel and Villas commenced its HA journey in October 2012 and was certified in 2013, re-certified in 2016 and is awaiting its third assessment this year for further re-certification.

“[When we began programme] little did we know that this journey would have led to our many improvements and sustainability to-date. We have improved as a company in our overall operations and service delivery and for that, the HA organization has our deepest appreciation,” the hotel wrote.

The CTO’s administration of the programme has been described as exemplary, with HA declaring it should be used as an example for a model for the programme around the world.