SunBreeze Hotel first to be Hospitality Assured Certified by the Caribbean Tourism Organization in Belize

Earlier this year, the SunBreeze Hotel located in San Pedro Town, completed its journey to becoming the first tourism enterprise in Belize to become Hospitality Assured (HA) certified in Belize. Hospitality Assured is a United Kingdom (UK) based certification program that promotes a culture of service and business excellence that is developed specifically for tourism and tourism-related businesses. It is a service quality certification program created and owned by the Institute of Hospitality and managed by Hospitality Limited in the UK.
This program of business excellence is aligned with the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model and is managed and promoted by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) in the Caribbean. Since 2007, the CTO has been the official body licensed to issue Hospitality Assured certification, and the program is supported by the Belize Tourism Board. The program contains nine steps and comprises of 44 measurable criteria, and focuses on operations around three key areas: Customer, Employees, and the Organization. In 2018, the CTO launched a regional Caribbean project for HA Certification and a campaign to recruit participants. There are now over 75 businesses in the region that have signed on to the program.
Seeing the advantages of such a program and process, the SunBreeze Hotel joined the program and embarked on the HA certification journey. The management and staff joined the program in January 2018 and worked diligently to meet the requirements of the 44 criteria. The staff was accommodating in systematizing processes and renewed their commitment and practices to focus on the guest experience. After several self-assessments, the SunBreeze Hotel requested their HA Auditor from the CTO. The audit process was completed in November 2018, and in December of that year, SunBreeze celebrated the holidays by becoming Belize’s first tourism business in Belize to be Hospitality Assured Certified. There are other businesses in the wider Caribbean countries that are certified, but SunBreeze is the first in Belize.
In an interview with The San Pedro Sun, Assistant Manager of SunBreeze Hotel David Vidal shared that this program pushed the resort to offer the best services possible in all aspects. “Kevin Geban, who is an instructor at the University of Belize, was the person who was sent to train us. He knows how we operate, that we are always providing training to our staff and that we have most of the prerequisites necessary to join the program. We joined in 2018 and recently completed it and got certified,” said Vidal. He encourages other resorts to join this program, as there is always room for improvement in the hospitality industry. “Sometimes, because you have so many years in the hospitality/tourism industry, you feel that your resort already knows everything. However, this program teaches you to take your services to a level of excellence, as well as maintain it.” Vidal added, “It would not have been possible without the hard work of the management and staff. The hotel hopes to be an example for other tourism businesses and encourages others to embrace the program, given that the main benefit is a considerable improvement in business processes.”
SunBreeze Hotel remains committed to providing excellent customer and hospitality services and ensuring that their guests have an unforgettable experience while staying at their hotel. Located in San Pedro Town, SunBreeze is a Caribbean-style hotel that features a massage studio, on-site dive center, an outdoor pool, and a restaurant and bar. For any hotel that would like more information about the HA Program, you can visit https://www.hospitalityassuredcaribbean.com/getting-certified/certified-businesses/.