Romburgh appointed new Grading Council chairperson

THE newly appointed members of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa held their first meeting on September 29 and elected Alan Romburgh, the managing director of Relais Hotels, as the new council chairperson. Dr Tanya Abrahamse of the TBCSA, who was the Interim Chairperson of the outgoing council, was selected the council vice-chair. The following members have been selected to chair the various council subcommittees: Alan Romburgh, chair: awards committee; Charles Ndabeni, chair: marketing committee; Jay Patel, chair: finance committee; and Dr Tanya Abrahamse, chair: professional ethics and standards committee. Tourism Grading Council members are drawn from a broad spectrum of the tourism industry and are appointed to a three-year term from September 1, 2003 to August 31, 2006. The mandate of the Tourism Grading Council is to develop and manage a framework for grading across the entire tourism industry. To date, over 1 600 accommodation establishments have been graded and the council is in the process of developing and rolling out schemes to grade the other sectors of the industry. (Miguel de Sousa)