The Junta has announced a new hotel law for Andalusia in which star ratings will be awarded by points, instead of the current law which determines ratings by the services offered.
The new law, says the Andalusian Minister for Magic, I’m sorry, Tourism and Commerce Rafael Rodríguez, has at its heart “quality and good service” and a key factor will be the number of employees a hotel has.
“You cannot have good quality with robots, with one member of staff per 100 guests” he said yesterday at a conference in Malaga.
Whilst the theory is OK, I’d say they’re putting far too much emphasis on the staffing levels. I’d also suspect that the new law will put small hotels at a disadvantage : larger hotel chains will be able to administratively reassign workers from one part of the company to another to artificially inflate hotel staffing levels in Andalusia. Expect to see NH, for example, employ fewer admin and more “receptionists” in the future…
Under the new law, the only difference between a three star and a five star could be the number of employees the hotel has, if the rest of the installations remain the same.
Mind you, I’ve stayed in a few four and five star hotels recently that were dreadful through lack of maintenance – peeling paint, rotten wood, cracked windows… how about a law that tells the Ministry Inspectors to check on the upkeep of installations, not just that they exist???
He also said that once the new law is out, his ministry will promote hotels with higher staff levels at a greater pace than those with fewer workers; announced a new 20 million euro grant package to hotels to help with contracting and training new staff members; and will send Spanish OAP’s on government sponsored holidays only to resorts with lots of workers.
Rafael reckons hotel stays have increased by 4,5% this year in Andalusia but the tourism sector ended the year with 2,5% fewer people.
He could also tell his Ministry to stop concentrating on all-inclusive package holidays to the resorts, and try to bring in more people who might actually spend money in the region…
The new Hotel Law is expected to be passed before the Spring.