The Association of Corporate Travel Executives has launched the
Business and Conference Hotel Accreditation program to guide corporate travel
buyers in selecting business-quality accommodations for their travelers.
Hotels will be inspected against 350-plus criteria in such
categories as safety and security and conduciveness to productivity. An
ACTE-BCHA affiliated partner will inspect properties onsite every two years. Affiliated
partners are selected based on referrals, their reach in the area and the
resources they have to conduct inspections, according to ACTE executive
director Greeley Koch. ACTE-BCHA COO Winfried Barczaitis will train prospective
inspectors.
Inspectors will submit evaluations to ACTE-BCHA for final review,
Koch said. Between inspections, undercover, independent monitors will verify whether
hotels are complying with the accreditation. The frequency of monitoring will
depend on ACTE-BCHA's discretion.
Hotels will pay membership fees to ACTE-BCHA. Half will be due at
the time of inspection, regardless of whether the property passes the
inspection, and a hotel will pay the balance after if the property is
accredited. ACTE-BCHA and the inspection partners will share the revenue, Koch
said.
Right now, ACTE-BCHA focuses on independently owned and operated hotels
in emerging markets. It aims to inspect more than 10,000 hotels by 2020. Among
the program's first inspection partners is Dnata, a travel industry
conglomerate based in Dubai that provides travel management, air transportation
and catering services. DNATA will inspect hotels in the Middle East. Koch says
ACTE-BCHA will announce its next partners, in India and South Africa, soon.