1. Christian de Barrin
CEO
HOTREC

2. ABOUT THE HOTELSTARS UNION
15 members:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland
180 million inhabitants
classified hotels until 2014
Fully operational (Full members): Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Sweden, Switzerland
Preparation for implementation (Implementing members): Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and Netherlands

3. MEMBERSHIP HOTREC-membership = pre-requisite
only nation-wide membership, no regions
current official observers: France, Italy,
official requests from countries worldwide
Requests received from e.g. from Israel, Canada

4. GOVERNANCE AND STRUCTURE
Managing Board (two members per country), Secretariat
One country – one vote
Unanimous decisions
Common criteria (>99%)
270 harmonized criteria
21 HOTREC-principles
Marketing, brand, IT
high quality standards
under the patronage of HOTREC
Common criteria to 99%, as there is some flexibility due to cultural, geographical differences (e.g. need for air condition in rooms, etc.)
Superior: 1*, 1* superior, 2*, 2* superior, …., 5*, 5* superior – superior category: reaching the points but not the mandatory criteria for next category
Managing Board taking the decisions
Secretariat managing the daily work of HSU, rotating between the Member countries
HOTREC providing the political patronage over the system and promotes it to European institutions
Open to all HOTREC member countries to join

5. HISTORY 1994 Opposition to any harmonised system
Historical, cultural and geographical reasons
change of position, adoption of common principles
Recognition of need for a harmonised system
Avoid top-down approach – do it ourselves
Work towards satisfying these needs of consumers, Tour operators and Travel Agents as well as of the European institutions
2007 Corporation of Austria – Germany – Switzerland
Dec Hotelstars Union under the patronage of HOTREC with 7 founding members
The cooperation started in 2007 between Austria, Germany and Switzerland was expended in 2009 to some other countries, making possible the launch of Hotelstars Union with 7 countries committing for implementation.

6. 7 FOUNDING MEMBERS IN 2009

7. DEVELOPMENT OF HOTEL CLASSIFICATION
Jan New hotel classification system: first implentation
2011 HSU-enlargement: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg
2012 HSU-enlargement: Malta first South European country joining the common star classification
2013 HSU-enlargement: Belgium, Denmark, Greece
2014 Update of criteria catalogue for
Gradual implementation: some countries are implementing sooner, some later, depending of the readiness of the market and also the readiness of the authorities, whenever they need to be involved.

8. A RECOGNISED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
European institutions recognise the huge work HOTREC and its members have undertaken to harmonise hotel classification in Europe
HOTREC Members provide full support to this industry driven approach
Together with the direct involvement of the guests and consumers across Europe a classification system can be developed to satisfy real market needs
European Institutions:
e.g. Introduction of the system by HOTREC in the European Parliament;
EP own initiative report in 2011
Positive and encouraging statements of European Commissioners

9. HOW IT WORKS? FUNCTIONING AND RULES
Different types of systems in Hotelstars Union:
Mandatory (e.g. Lithuania)
Voluntary (e.g. Germany)
Privately run (e.g. Sweden, Switzerland)
State run (e.g. Malta, Belgium, Luxembourg)
Hotelstars Union classification system replaced the existing national system
All different types of classification systems around Europe under one hat:
In some countries it is mandatory for hotels to be classified
In some countries it is voluntary for hotels to be classified
In some countries the classification is run by a private entity (e.g. a hotel association)
In some countries the classification is run by a public entity (and often put in national law).
In the Hotelstars Union countries, the HSU system / criteria replaced the previous national systems

10. SOME OF THE 21 COMMON PRINCIPLES
Compliance with legal requirements
Cleanliness and proper maintenance
TOs and TAs to be encouraged to use official classification
Number of stars from 1 to 5
Regular and onsite controls
Possibility for hotels to appeal against classification decision
The 21 principles are one of the basis for the operation of the Hotelstars Union in the different countries. The principles are available on the HOTREC website in the position of HOTREC on hotel classification.

11. Official stars vs. non-official stars
Meaning of stars: what to expect in the hotel
Which infrastructure and services
An objective and verified evaluation of the offer
Transparent comparability of the offer across Europe under the Hotelstars Union
A brand especially for smaller hotels
Official objective hardware evaluation + verified subjective reviews – best solution
Different meaning of stars
Not known which facilities and services to expect
Mix of objective and subjective elements in one
Criteria not transparent
Not always matching the official star category - confusion
Non – official stars given by (Online) Tour operators, Travel Agents

12. CRITERIA Mix of mandatory and voluntary criteria
Avoiding mandatory architecture criteria
Criteria in relation to:
Rooms,
Services offered,
Gastronomy,
Event facilities,
Quality management (complaint handling, guest reviews, etc.)
Mix of mandatory and voluntary criteria: Allows for setting minimum requirements for each category and gives flexibility to the hotels to “specialize” themselves putting focus on some specific services
Avoiding mandatory architectural criteria: Impossible to harmonise across Europe the size of the rooms. No minimum requirement for minimum room size, but strong incentive for bigger rooms. The bigger the room, the more points received.

13. Structure of the steps in the system
There are not only 1-5 * categories, but each category has a Superior category as well. This is rewarding high additional efforts to enhance the offer in a given category, without entering into a higher category.
The rules for classification in the categories on the example of 1*:
E.g. for a 1* category 44 mandatory criteria need to be met and a total of 90 points have to be earned from those 44 mandatory criteria and from the points of some additional optional criteria
For 1* Superior, the number of points of 170, required for a 2 star category, are reached with mandatory and optional criteria, but not all 53 mandatory criteria for the 2 star category are met.

14. • All rooms with shower/ toilet in the room • Daily room cleaning • Expanded breakfast • A public telephone/ fax service available • Beverages available • Non-smoking area in the breakfast-room • Soap or body wash • All rooms have colour -TV • Deposit possibility
• Breakfast buffet • Bath towels • Bath essences or shower gel • Seats according to number of beds • Reading light next to the bed • Cashless payment • Hygienic articles available • Linen shelves
• Reception opened 12 hours; 24 hours within call • Luggage service • Beverages offered in rooms • Telephone in the room, internet access • Restaurant • Systematic complaint handling • Bilingual employees • Hair dryer, additional pillow on demand
Reception opened 24 hours, multilingual staff, concierge • 24 hours meals and drinks with room service • Suites • Internet-PC in the room, qualified IT-support service • Reception hall, hotel bar • Mystery guesting • Personalized guest welcome with flowers and/or sweets in the room • Laundry and ironing services within 12 hours, shoe polish service • Turndown service in the evening • Luggage service
• Reception opened 18 hours; 24 hours within call • Minibar or 24 hours room service • Bath robe and slippers on demand • Cosmetic mirror • Systematic client inquiry • Comfortable arm chair / couch • Laundry and ironing services • Hotel lobby, restaurant, hotel bar • Sewing service • “À la carte”-restaurant
These are some of the examples for the minimum requirements for each category of hotels

15. A COMMON IDENTITY / SIGNS
In 2012 there was agreement to create common signs to be used by hoteliers. This same layout is being applied gradually in all Hotelstars Union hotels.
Other marketing activities and efforts: - Important
Encouraging OTAs to use the official number of stars thanks to a daily exchange of the HSU database of hotels and star categories with OTAs. E.g. Expedia is doing this under the description of the hotels.

16. REVISION OF THE HOTEL CLASSIFICATION
The original criteria were set for 5 years, 2010 – Therefore, the revision process needed to be started in 2013 to have the revised criteria implemented from 2015 onwards.

17. Guest needs are continously changing

18. Market research 2013 new Approach
It was decided by Hotelstars Union members to conduct a direct online survey with European citizens exploring their needs towards hotel classification.
Let’s ask them directly

19. REVISED CRITERIA APPLICABLE FROM 2015
five-years-term (now valid from )
Revision process for new criteria 2015 started in 2013
With the help of Swiss University St. Gallen
Open online survey among European citizens
Study based on this survey

20. PROCESS Revision process focused on following aspects:
Better sleeping comfort;
Better online visibility provided by hotel websites;
Better telecommunication opportunities also in lower category hotels;
Better food and beverages availability in all types of hotels;
Keeping with the pace of time
Test classifications in several countries
New criteria to be implemented contiuosly from 1 January 2015
The study identified some key aspects to be reviewed and changed during the revision process
Sleeping comfort: Enhanced criteria with regard to matrasses, including for example more points for regular renewal of matrasses
Better online visibility: website required for all classified hotels, more points for direct booking facility on hotels’ own website
Better telecommunication opportunities: mandatory internet access in the hotel (public area) from 2* onwards, internet access in the room from 3* onwards – before it was from 3 and 4 stars onwards, respectively
Better food and beverage availability: Now some sort of food (snacks, etc.) to be available in all hotels
Keeping with the pace of time: New criteria: charging station for electrical vehicles as optional criteria

21. MAKE YOUR OWN TEST
A free testing tool is available on
Check out how many stars you would get under the Hotelstars Union system!
Testing tool available on the homepage in the left bottom part.

22. BENEFITS FOR CUSTOMERS
Guiding stars for guests in the universe of offers
Possibility to know which infrastructure and services to be expected from a hotel
An objective and verified evaluation of the offer
Comparability of the offer across Europe under the Hotelstars Union
A brand especially for smaller hotels

23. For any further detailed questions, please contact the Hotelstars Union Secretariat:
Klára Hájková
AHR ČR
Revoluční 13, Prague 1

24. Thank you for your attention!