BUJUMBURA March 4th (ABP) – The Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Mr. Jean Marie Niyokindi, proclaimed in Bujumbura on Friday March 1, 2019, the results of the classification of tourist houses.

Mr. Niyokindi said that three hotels were rated five stars, including the Lake Tanganyika Club Hotel, Royal Palace Hotel and Belaire Residence Hotel. The bosses of the three hotels received certificates of honor. Nine hotels have been rated four stars, including Best Outlook Hotel, Panoramic Hotel, Zion Mount Hotel, Tiger’s Appartment Hotel, Tropitel Gitega Hotel, City Hill Hotel, Dolce Vita Resort Hotel, Kiriri Garden Hotel, and Roca Golf Hotel.

The tourist accommodation establishments that followed are the 9 hotels rated three stars namely Concorde Hotel, Helena Hotel, The Paradise Hotel, Martha Hotel, Village Hotel, Nile Source Hotel, New Agena Hotel, Ruhuka Hotel, Buntu Hotel. The 16 hotels that have been crowned two stars are Pearl Residence Hotel, Hotel of Plateaus, Springs Conference Center Hotel, Accolade Hotel, Kigobe Hotel, Mandela Hotel, Inarunyonga Museum Hotel, Le Chandelier Hotel, Musumba Hills Hotel, Gahahe Hills Hotel, Alex Hotel, Emerald Hotel, Pacific Hotel, Green Hills Hotel, Banga Muzuga Hotel and finally Circle The Versatile Giraffe Hotel.

At the end of the mid-term evaluation by eight assessors, the minister said that 64 tourist accommodation establishments were evaluated in eleven provinces and 37 establishments were classified, including 22 in Bujumbura City Council, 5 in Ngozi, 3 in Gitega, 3 in Kayanza, 2 in Karusi, 1 in Muyinga and 1 in Muramvya. He pointed out that the classification of hotels is part of the integration steps in the East African community where Burundi is a member.

Thanks to the awareness and popularization of those criteria, some tourist accommodation establishments have gone from the informal to the formal.

Mr. Niyokindi announced that the classification criteria were drawn up and validated by the community persons in authorities in 2009 and then followed by the training and certification of the assessors.

He asked the owners of the classified institutions to ensure that the level of quality of service in their institutions be maintained in order to maintain the standard established during the evaluation, to strengthen competitiveness at the national, regional and international levels in order to stand out from the market.

The Ministry of Tourism calls on all the hotels not yet visited for the classification that they are invited to finalize the preparations to fulfill the essential criteria of classification and to seize the said ministry to request the classification. He invited all the economic operators wishing to invest in this sector to ensure the respect of the standards from the design phase of the project, which will allow them to save time and to earn money in investment, and this for a good exhibition of our country.

With the introduction of a unique tourist visa in East Africa, he stressed that this visa will help many hoteliers of the EAC including Burundi.