Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
21
specific rating. For example, a 5-star hotel must have staff at the reception 24 hours a day
(worth 6 points). However, other criteria have no minimum set requirement, but may be
worth more such as average room size of >14 sqm (worth 10 points). The AAA standard in
the US considers similar criteria, but uses a somewhat different approach. The AAA requires a
hotel to meet 36 basic criteria across five categories, including cleanliness, management,
exterior and public areas, guest room, and bathroom, to be “approved” for further rating. 21
The AAA Diamond rating evaluates dozens of other elements across similar categories
(exterior, lobby, other public areas, guest room, and bathroom) to award up to Five
Diamonds.22
Alternative quality standards measure a more varied set of criteria than conventional
standards. They often measure criteria such as management and communication, building
design/construction, housekeeping and waste management, water and energy conservation,
and food and beverage operations. For example, the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard considers
29 criteria across 11 major categories. These categories are environmental policy and actions
for hotel operation, use of green products, collaboration with the community and local
organizations, human resource development, solid waste management, energy efficiency,
water efficiency and water quality, air quality management (indoor and outdoor), noise
pollution control, wastewater treatment and management (water quality), and toxic and
chemical substance disposal management23. In the case of the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard,
hotels must meet minimum scores across all 11 categories and must comply with various
mandatory requirements to achieve certification. Hotels can achieve up to 80 points across
the categories.
The following table illustrates key features from a list of selected conventional and alternative
standards. The table highlights the criteria being measured, and whether the standards are
mandatory or voluntary.
21 AAA Tourism Information Development. Approval Requirements & Diamond Rating Guidelines. Heathrow, FL: AAA
Tourism Information Development, 2012. AAA Publishing, June 2012. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
22 AAA Tourism Information Development. Approval Requirements & Diamond Rating Guidelines. Heathrow, FL: AAA
Tourism Information Development, 2012. AAA Publishing, June 2012. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
23 ASEAN Green Hotel Standard. Rep. Jakarta: ASEAN, 2016. ASEAN Green Hotel Standard. ASEAN, Jan. 2016. Web. 17 Oct.
2016.