Grading council nominations under consideration

"VERY happy to see certain names and very glad to see them there." So comments South African Tourism's (Satour) acting director: standards promotion, Pim Zouteriks, on the organisation's announcement that it had received a total of 28 nominations from a wide variety of stakeholders for appointment to the as-yet-to-be-established Tourism Grading Council. The council, to be constituted by the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mohammed Valli Moosa under the auspices of Satour, will be responsible for developing a framework for the governing of a national grading system for the hospitality industry. Acting chief executive officer, Moss Mashishi, says the marketing sub-committee of Satour's board of directors will be making its recommendation to the board once it has evaluated the nominations. The full board, which meets in the second half of July, will - in turn - then forward its recommendations to the Minister. Zouteriks told Travel Now that the final number to be appointed to the Grading Council has not been pre-determined, but that the figure widely quoted is in the region of 15-17 members. The council will, however, have to reflect the broad profile and demographics of SA as well as incorporate certain industry expertise and the Minister will, according to Zouteriks, "have the prerogative to nominate any individuals he feels may have been left out" with the aim of getting the best possible selection of constituted before the end of July. (Elizabeth Sheridan)