According to Leonidas Habonimana, the ONT Managing Director, the hotels classification is an extremely important step in improving the tourism sector. “Tourists need to know the situation of hotels in order to make their choice according to their standards,” he says. Habonimana explains that tourists find difficult to make choice of the hotel to stay in when they arrive in Burundi.
He states that ONT recorded around 370 hotels across the country. “Unfortunately these hotels are not classified according to international standards,” regrets Habonimana.
He adds that around 48% of the hotel staff have a primary school level; only 2.7% of them attended a tourism school and among them, 17 % of the staff have an academic qualification in various sectors other than tourism.
Habonimana clarifies that after realizing all those shortcomings, the Government of Burundi supported by the East
African Community and financed by World Bank project (PAG) organized professional training sessions for these 11 assessors which were held from 26 December 2012 to 6 February 2013.
He believes that the above assessors will help improve the hotel sector in Burundi. “The quality of service in tourist facilities could be improved if this classification occurs.”
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