The grading and classification of accommodation facilities, including hotels, in Uganda is underway.

The first phase is starting with facilities in Kampala, Jinja, Entebbe, Mbale, Fort Portal and Mbarara and will be conducted until September 4, according to the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB).

The last time this was done was in 2018.

Lilly Ajarova the Chief Executive Officer for Uganda Tourism Board explaining about the grading and classification exercise as Susan Muhwezi (left) listens

Grading and classification are done in accordance with the Tourism Act of 2008, which mandates UTB with the responsibility of enforcing standards in the tourism sector.

"The tourism board is, therefore, responsible for registering, inspecting, licensing, and classifying tourism enterprises," said UTB executive director Lilly Ajarova at a press conference at the UTB offices in Kampala on Wednesday.

"The classification and grading of any accommodation facility can only happen after such a facility has been registered, inspected and licensed."

The exercise aligns with Uganda meeting the provision of Article 115 (2) of the East African Treaty, where tourism is identified as one of the sectors of partnership between member states.

The spirit is to work together to develop the quality of accommodation and catering facilities for visitors within the region.

A team of certified East African assessors was officially flagged off to begin the exercise.

Suzan Muhwezi, the chairperson of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA), assured of the support from the private sector towards the exercise and urged hoteliers to participate for the good of the industry.

She said the exercise is a vital component of marketing Uganda as a competitive tourism destination that observes good standards for visitor enjoyment.

Jean Byamugisha (right) the Executive director for Uganda Hotel Owners Association displaying a guide to Uganda hotels. Seated on the left is Samora Semakula the manager in charge of quality assurance at the Uganda Tourism Board

'More confidence'

Bradford Ochieng, the UTB deputy CEO, said that according to international standards, the validation exercise ought to be done every two years.

He said the team of assessors will consider the status of each component of a given accommodation facility, ranging from kitchens to bathrooms.

The system has been digitized to provide a transparent monitoring system that will be visible from the assessor to the CEO.

"This should give more confidence to the public and the investors that the exercise is going to be meticulously done to the satisfaction of the required standards," said Ajarova.

Facilities to be graded and classified include town hotels, vacation hotels, lodges, guest houses, tented camps, service apartments, motels and restaurants.

Jean Byamugisha, the UHOA executive director, said the grading and classification exercise will help in determining prices as charged by a given facility.

"Upon grading and classification, a client will not be duped to pay prices of, for example, a five-star facility for services of a two-star facility," she said.

She was keen to point out that the exercise is voluntary, but it benefits both clients and accommodation facilities.

Byamugisha said that for international conferences to be hosted in a given country, organizers consider the number of graded accommodation facilities.

"We, therefore, need to know the number of accommodation facilities and their grades before we bid for international conferences to be hosted in Uganda."