Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
29
Table 9: WTO Process for Developing Tourism Quality standards
Objective
Improve the overall quality of products and services within the tourism industry (all
tourism-related accommodation, restaurants, tour guides, tour operators, and other
tourism-related service providers); raise the levels of demand nationally, regionally and
internationally; promote competiveness within the industry; and, provide valuable and
reliable information on quality standards for the tourist and the travel industry.
Duration
Module 1: 1 month;
Module 2: 3 months;
Module 3: 6-12 months;
Module 4-6: 12-18
months. All modules can
be undertaken as one
composite project
which spans 12-18
months depending on
the nature and scope of
the project.
Methodology:
Overall strategy: evaluate the current tourism quality
standards situation through initial negotiations with
government officials and other key stakeholders of the
national tourism industry; identify customers’ needs and
expectations (stakeholders, environment, direction, facilities,
resources, overall objectives, challenges); introduce available
UNWTO quality products and services (modules); and,
provide technical assistance as indicated in the modules
below.
Module 1: Review of Existing Criteria for Tourism-Related
Accommodation
• Review existing criteria for various facilities and services
and evaluate these according to local, regional and global best
practices and competitive environment
• Identify gaps and constraints
• Make appropriate recommendations on modifying and/or
upgrading the existing criteria
Module 2: Establishment and Formulation of New Criteria
• Identify for which facilities/services/sectors criteria need to
be established
• Formulate criteria in line with national/regional needs and
considering international industry practices and competitive
environment
• Prepare initial criteria drafts
• Introduce criteria drafts to industry stakeholders
• Prepare final criteria and support the approval process
Module 3: Implementation and Assessment of Criteria
• Establish assessment responsibilities and procedures (pre-
post administration, on-site procedures, result reporting)
• Plan assessment/inspection tours
• Accompany national assessors/inspector visits on site
• Guide assessment findings and result definitions
Indicative budget
Module 1: € 15,000;
Module 2: € 40,000;
Module 3: Budget
depends on duration
and scope of the
module; Module 4:
Budget depends on
duration and scope of
the module
Target beneficiaries
National Tourism
Administration
Private sector
Provincial Governments
Outputs/deliverables
Classification system in
place and information
available to