20 Apr 2026
Words
John Miller Informer
Star POWER
Of Australia’s more than 9,000 accommodation businesses, around 1,300 participate in the official Star Ratings program.
The Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC), the national peak body for the industry, says participation numbers have remained steady since it took over administration of the program in 2017, even as many accommodation operators increasingly use aggregated guest ratings from platforms such as Google, Expedia, Tripadvisor and Booking.com.
“Our point of difference from those who use self-ratings (properties that have assessed their own standards) or consumer ratings is that we’re a third-party independent audit based on objective criteria,” says ATIC Chief Executive Officer Erin McLeod.
McLeod emphasises that consumer reviews have a legitimate and valuable place in the industry but their subjectivity can sometimes distort expectations.
“Consumer ratings of shared experiences and feedback have a very valid, worthwhile spot in our industry,” she says. “But that can come with bias. It can also come with inaccuracies.”
Some of those inaccuracies are simply absurd. McLeod recalls being told by an accommodation provider in Orange they received a one-star online review because the guest “couldn’t see the beach.” (Orange, located in NSW’s Central Tablelands, is several hundred kilometres from the coast.)
With consumer ratings, McLeod says different types of accommodation can appear equivalent despite offering vastly different facilities.
“You might get several properties with five-star consumer ratings, but it’s not a clear indication of the facilities and services a guest can expect. A consumer rating focuses more on the subjective experience than on the combination of services and facilities expected for that category.”
This is where the official Star Ratings system excels.
“Our system compares like with like,” says McLeod. “If you’re comparing a five-star hotel to another five-star hotel, you have very clear expectations of the experience you should be getting. There are very clear delineations with our system.”
The Star Ratings system covers six accommodation categories: hotels, motels, serviced apartments, hosted accommodation, caravan holiday parks and self-catering properties. Ratings run from one to five stars, including half-star gradations.
While consumers know what to expect from an officially Star Rated accommodation business, mismatched expectations remain common with the unofficial consumer system.
“The number one complaint we get from travellers is that they’ve visited a property promoting itself as four- or five-stars based on consumer reviews, but it doesn’t meet the expectations of that unofficial rating,” says McLeod. “Visitors expect a certain standard because of how the business promotes itself, and that standard isn’t always met.”
The Star Ratings system has existed in Australia since the 1960s. Before ownership of the program was transferred to ATIC, it was operated for many years by Australian Motoring Services, the umbrella body of Australia’s motoring clubs (such as RACV, NRMA and RACQ).
ATIC owns both the Star Ratings program and its underlying standards. The council licenses delivery of the program to each state and territory’s tourism industry council. An accommodation business in, say, Queensland — where around 250 operators are signed up to the Star Ratings system — would be audited by an assessor working for the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.
“The arrangement allows us to set and oversee the standard while separating ourselves from those who administer it,” explains McLeod.
“There’s a third-party auditing process, which aligns with the expectation that the body setting the standards should sit apart from those enforcing them.”
In Australia, Star Ratings are a protected trademark. If an accommodation business promotes a star rating it doesn’t officially hold with Star Ratings Australia, ATIC may pursue trademark breaches.
“Most accommodation operators aren’t intending to do the wrong thing,” says McLeod. “Usually, they’re simply unaware Star Ratings are trademarked.”
ATIC will contact accommodation businesses who are in breach of its trademark as a matter of course. The small number of businesses who remain in breach may be fined or incur other costs by needing to remove signage or other marketing materials.
“We’ll reach out to them in the first instance,” says McLeod. “If we don’t get any response or an unwillingness, then we’ll go down the legal path and issue a cease-and-desist letter. We’ll progress from there if needed, but that’s only five or six times a year.”
“But really we want to work with these businesses. The Australian Tourism Industry Council is all about helping to lift standards industry-wide.”
To its credit, ATIC does not have its head in the sand when it comes to online reviews. It has embraced the role online reviews play in the tourist industry and is actively equipping Star Ratings members with tools to help them manage those reviews.
One such tool is Shiji ReviewPro Reputation, which accommodation businesses get for free when they sign up for the Star Ratings program. ReviewPro Reputation is an online tool that brings together guest reviews from more than 80 different sources from around the world. Since its inception in 2009, the independently owned, China-based ReviewPro Reputation has become one of the most widely used online reputation management
systems in the hotel tech space.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic tool for businesses,” says McLeod. “ReviewPro Reputation brings in all the feedback from the different review sites to which operators can respond via the platform. So instead of having to log into multiple different sites, they can do it all from ReviewPro Reputation.”
ReviewPro Reputation gives businesses a score from 0 to 100 on a Global Review Index (GRI), a metric available exclusively to users.
“The GRI gives them a sense of where their consumer rating is and also helps them identify some common trends in guest feedback so they can improve their product. In the end, the Australian Tourism Industry Council is all about business development. Our partnership with Shiji ReviewPro Reputation helps with that.”
ATIC is also working with online travel agencies (OTAs) to improve the accuracy of consumer ratings.
“We’re actively trying to work with the OTAs to help verify the information on their sites,” says McLeod. “If they’ve listed a business that has done a self-rating, we’re trying to say to the OTAs: we have a system that can verify that. There’s appetite from the OTAs, but because they’re global organisations and this system is unique to Australia, it can be difficult to bring in processes that are specific to a geographical region.”
In addition to its 5 Star Rating, ATIC annually releases through Star Ratings Australia the “Gold List” that recognises the top 10 accommodation businesses nationally, and in each state and territory, across all categories.
“The Gold List is about celebrating those accommodation businesses that consistently deliver on the expectations of their rating,” says McLeod. “One way we measure that is by looking at how highly they rank with customers across different platforms. It’s a celebration of businesses that are achieving really great things. That’s what we’re about.” END
Make it Official
How the Star Ratings Process Works
STEP 1
Join the Quality Tourism Framework
All accommodation businesses seeking a Star Rating must first register for the Quality Tourism Framework and gain Quality Tourism accreditation.
“That’s just making sure they have sound business principles around risk, business operating systems, marketing, human resources and environmental practices,” says McLeod.
STEP 2
Complete the Star Rating Pre-Assessment
“If you know your business really well you can complete the online questionnaire within an hour,” says McLeod. “It’s quite easy to go through. Once you’ve completed that, you get a preliminary Star Rating you can use in any sort of digital promotion before you receive your official rating.”
STEP 3
Site Visit
An assessor from the relevant state/territory tourism industry council will visit the business to carry out the official assessment.
“It’s not a mystery visit,” says McLeod. “They let the business know they’re coming.”
STEP 4
Official Rating
After the site visit, the business receives its official Star Rating.
COST
Varies business to business but the initial payment can cost as little as $300 followed by an annual renewal fee at the same rate.
