Kigali Serena Hotel has received a second international Hygiene and Hospitality Excellence certificate from Societe Generale de Survellance (SGS), a company that deals in consumer testing services.

The hotel was recognised for achieving high standards in food safety controls after scoring an index of 85 percent, the minimum SGS bench mark.

Bart Gasana, the chairman of the Tourism Chamber, said the hospitality industry had launched a campaign to improve food safety standards in collaboration with the National Bureau of Standards. 

"We want to make Kigali a conference hub through building confidence in our services ntry in the field of hospitality and hygiene,” he said.

He thanked Serena for taking the lead in improving the hospitality industry, a major contributor to Rwanda’s economic growth, adding that it would increase the marketability of the industry and Rwanda as a brand and world class destination for quality hospitality.

An official of SGS, Ronald Watsiera, said the certificate handed to the country’s biggest hotel was not limited to what Rwandan law says about food safety, but also considers international best practices.

Charles Muia, the country manager Kigali Serena said the hotel would strive to continuously improve the quality of services. 

"It is a true demonstration that we are taking action to improve food security and hygiene, but also shows that we are not leaving out customer care as a key aspect of this business,” Muia said.

He said that a food safety committee had been formed to watch over quality issues with the aim of attaining the highest compliancy mark. 

"These actions are not just for formality, but our interest is to make sure that the customer is safe at all times,” he said.

On her part, Serena Sales and Marketing Manager, Denise Benzinge, said as they do not take the certification for granted, but as a challenge to maintain the standards that they have set in order to stay at the top of the hospitality business.

"It is a great honour for us as employees to know that our efforts are appreciated and recognised by an international institution, but also that we work with a company that offers certified standards of service in terms of hygiene,” she said.