Hoteliers urged to join professional body

Hotels, restaurants and bars have been called upon to join the Rwanda Hotels, Restaurants and Bars Association (RHRBA), a hospitality industry association.

Friday, March 02, 2012
Some members of RHRBA after their meeting yesterday. The New Times, J.Mbanda.

Hotels, restaurants and bars have been called upon to join the Rwanda Hotels, Restaurants and Bars Association (RHRBA), a hospitality industry association. The call was made on Wednesday by the association’s chairman, Dennis Karera, while visiting various hotels and restaurants in Kigali. RHRBA seeks to promote and protect the interests of its members by influencing key industry decision makers and helping to shape policy. Karera noted that the association has designed an action plan to tackle the challenging issues of customer-care and service delivery."We want to address these issues by holding trainings for all the people involved, from hotel owners to front-desk receptionists,” he said. He added that RHRBA had published a minimum standards guideline that will govern local establishments.A team from the association will be moving around the country, visiting various hotels, restaurants and bars with the aim of sensitizing them on the importance of joining the association.Alex Mutaganda, the Manager of Hilltop hotel, called upon all the players in this industry to join the association instead of handling their challenges individually."Joining the association helps businesses gain exposure and gives you a stronger voice in advocating for a particular cause”, Mutaganda said.       Recently, hotel managers in Musanze District blamed owners of hotel and other hospitality facilities for the poor services. They cited poor recruitment procedures such as nepotism, for the poor service delivery.