Australia: Backpackers’ facilities to be rated on cleanliness and maintenance
Australia is planning the introduction of a star ratings system for its hundreds of travellers’ hostels.
The government’s tourism department launched the initiative this week, some six years after a similar scheme failed when it ran out of cash. Owners of hostels will have to pay AU$100 to be rated; inspectors will then assess the facilities based mainly on cleanliness and maintenance.
The Sydney Morning Herald website, at www.smh.com.au, reports that a five-star hostel will provide an en-suite bathroom and a swipe security entrance, while a three- or four-star facility will provide good communal facilities. A spokesman for the tourism department said: “At least they will be aware of what they are getting.”
The website reports that the first hostels are likely to be given their ratings within six weeks, in an industry that is still haunted by the terrible events of July 2000, when 15 tourists died in a fire in the Childers hostel, in Queensland.
