Have you ever had such an experience? You head to a rural homestay for a vacation, only to find cramped, dirty rooms, poor service, and even stomach trouble after meals…
The homestay market is mixed with good and bad operators, and consumers fear misleading online photos. An independent third‑party diamond‑grade certificate lets quality homestays speak for themselves.
What Does Rural Homestay Service Certification Evaluate?
In accordance with standard RB/T 081‑2022, the certification scores homestays across two major dimensions: service requirements and management requirements, with a full score of 100 points:
✅ Service requirements cover the full scope of 8 key service procedures — information disclosure, reservation & reception, guest‑room quality, catering services, travel guidance, featured experiences, and check‑out services, all subject to verifiable criteria.
✅ Management requirements include 12 operational management items, covering personnel administration, sanitation management, fire safety, food safety, privacy protection, emergency response and more, to ensure homestays are both appealing and comfortable for guests.
✅ Diamond‑grade rating system: 3‑Diamond (≥70%), 4‑Diamond (≥80%), 5‑Diamond (≥90%). Both evaluation dimensions must meet thresholds. Higher grades represent stronger service performance.
Why Should Homestays Obtain This Certification?
First, build visible consumer trust. Travellers are increasingly focused on reputation and formal qualifications when choosing homestays. A third‑party diamond‑grade certificate carries more weight than hundreds of self‑claimed “high‑quality homestay” slogans.⭐
Second, a powerful tool for differentiated competition. With a growing number of homestays, how do you stand out to guests? The diamond‑grade certification serves as a clear differentiating label and brings extra points in bidding and tendering activities.
Third, drive service improvement. Certification is not a one‑off achievement. Annual surveillance audits are required. To retain its diamond grade, a homestay must continuously upgrade services, benefiting both guests and business performance.
Certification Procedures
Rural homestay service certification follows the model of document review + on‑site assessment + service characteristic evaluation + post‑certification surveillance. The process is as follows:
1️⃣ Submit Application: Provide business license, operating qualifications and other required documents.
2️⃣ Application Review: The certification body reviews submitted documents to confirm acceptance of the application.
3️⃣ Contract Sign‑off: Both parties confirm certification scope, fees and other terms.
4️⃣ Audit Planning: Confirm audit dates, assign audit team and formulate audit plans.
5️⃣ On‑site Audit: Conduct on‑site assessment of service & management systems and service characteristic evaluation (including mystery‑guest inspection), as well as verification of online published information.
6️⃣ Non‑conformity Rectification: Resolve identified deficiencies within the specified time limit.
7️⃣ Audit Report & Re‑verification: Compile the audit report; make certification decision upon completion of re‑verification.
8️⃣ Certification Decision: Issue diamond‑grade certificate upon approval, valid for 3 years.
9️⃣ Annual Surveillance: At least one surveillance audit per year to maintain certification validity.
⚠️ Pre‑application prerequisites: The homestay shall have been in operation for at least 1 year, and its management system shall have been implemented for no less than 3 months.
NGV Certification — 25‑year expertise in certification services. With extensive experience in service certification covering traditional management‑system certification and emerging certification fields, we maintain a highly‑competent audit team and have served thousands of enterprises. Choosing NGV Certification means partnering with a knowledgeable, rule‑abiding and reliable service provider.
