Alan Britten, former chairman of the now-defunct English Tourism Council, has been asked by the Government to head a team to review the different hotel grading schemes operating in England, Scotland and Wales.
A spokeswoman for VisitBritain, the new tourism body formed from the merger of the ETC and the British Tourist Authority, said the national tourist boards were working together to bring the schemes more into line with each other.
The aim is to make them easier for consumers to understand and to iron out anomalies that mean hotels can have different ratings under different schemes.
She said the boards would examine every requirement for hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and self-catering accommodation to see how and why they differed. The review will also look at how the different schemes are administered and monitored.
The boards will agree any changes by the end of this year, then consult with the industry and consumers. New ratings will come into force in 2006 after trials and assessments.
The current schemes, launched in 2000, were branded by Holiday Which? magazine a "missed opportunity" that had sown more "discord and confusion" for guests.
At present, the English system, which harmonises with the RAC and AA grading schemes, awards stars to hotels based on facilities, services and quality, and diamonds to guesthouses and B&Bs. The Scottish and Welsh star systems are related to quality.
This, said the spokeswoman, happened because England had more business guests, who valued facilities, while the leisure guests that predominated in Scotland and Wales looked for quality.
Nigel Embry, managing director of Farm Stay UK, a network of 1,165 farm-based B&Bs, self-catering units, barn conversions and caravans throughout Britain, said common standards were vital to prevent confusion and frustration among guests.
He said his members had lost faith in the tourist board systems because inspection standards were applied inconsistently, possibly because inspection work was outsourced. Members felt that the English system was the least satisfactory.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 8 - 14 May 2003