Though the experience of a perfect hotel stay was once driven by availability of amenities and location of the property, a new guest priority has now emerged – that of safety and hygiene. Customers easily trust the adherence of branded hotels to safety protocols, but for the smaller ones, surety lies in the QualSTAR COVID Safety Compliance scheme.
QualSTAR COVID Safety Compliance scheme has been formulated by industry experts with years of extensive experience behind them, and founded under the patronage of Shree VK Duggal, former Governor of Manipur and Mizoram; former Director General – Tourism, Government of India; and former Union Home Secretary.
Speaking about the certification’s authenticity and benefits, Anil Jauhri, Lead Assessor – NABCB, Lead Evaluator – APAC and IAF Evaluator, says, “COVID compliance is top of everyone’s priority today and certainly of the hospitality industry. A third-party COVID compliance certification for hotels carries more weightage than a self-declaration. The common man is bombarded with lots of claims and for him, an accredited certification should mean that he can be assured that he is dealing with a credible, competent certification body that is under the oversight of a national body.”
Madhu Sudan Chawla, Director, QualSTAR, says that the idea behind COVID Safety Compliance certification was primarily to build traveller confidence as a stepping stone in the recovery of the hospitality sector. “It has repeatedly been said in recent times that for the sector to recover, traveller confidence is a priority. Recognising the absence of an accredited certification in the field, QualSTAR formulated the COVID Safety Compliance certification to initiate the hospitality sector on to a path of recovery. The certification, through its extensive checks and mystery audits, will assure the guest of the accommodation’s conformity to safety and hygiene guidelines.”
Priya Singh, Chief Executive Officer, QualSTAR, says, “Keeping the nuances of guest service in mind from the point of view of the user as well as the service provider, and adapting it to international auditing standards for rating and classification, is something that QualSTAR has been able to execute after almost seven years of research and development. Being accredited by the national body of the country is a step in the right direction in bringing Indian hospitality standards on a par with the rest of the world. Safety and preventive measures were built into the classification standard to deal with both natural as well as man-made disasters.” During these unprecedented times,Singh adds, QualSTAR took the lead and with the assistance of stakeholders from various relevant fields, launchedCOVID compliance audits to assist hotels in getting back on their feet.
