Tourism quality seal
Certified accommodation and routes
Whether it’s hiking trails, cycle routes or hotels you’re interested in, it’s not always easy to make a decision for or against the range of travel packages on offer. Here, quality seals can help by way of orientation. They reflect the quality level and indicate strengths and weaknesses.
The “Qualitätsweg Wanderbares Deutschland” hiking trail certificate
There are over 50,000 kilometres of hiking trails in NRW. The “Deutsche Wanderverband”, the German hiking association, helps visitors find the right trail. With its “Qualitätsweg Wanderbares Deutschland” seal, which is awarded to high-quality hiking trails in Germany, it highlights routes that offer varied landscapes and views, as well as an intensive nature experience. A hiking route is analysed according to 9 key criteria and 23 elective criteria, such as route guides, markings or regional attractions.
www.wanderbares-deutschland.de
Germany’s hiking quality seal for premium routes
The “Deutsches Wanderinstitut e.V.”, the German hiking institute, evaluates strengths and weakness of hiking routes using a comprehensive catalogue of criteria. The hiking experience itself is evaluated in figures by 34 criteria with around 200 features, which ensure the high quality of the premium routes. Here, too, the landscape, quality of the route surface or historical buildings along the way are included in the evaluation.
www.wanderinstitut.de
ADFC quality routes
Anyone who chooses a cycle route certified by the “Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad Club” (ADFC), the German cycling club, is guaranteed not to meet with any unpleasant surprises. An outstanding quality cycle route can have up to five stars, depending on the number of points awarded, which indicate the level of quality offered to visitors. The ADFC examines ten criteria for starred routes over a sample stretch of 50 kilometres. These include ease of travel for cyclists, route guidance or the connection to public transport.
www.adfc.de
The “Qualitätsgeber Wanderbares Deutschland” service certificate
There are many businesses offering services tailored to hikers. In order to help hikers choose the right destination, the “Deutscher Wanderverband” has awarded a quality certificate to particularly hiker-friendly accommodation and gastronomy services. In order to obtain the “Qualitätsgeber Wanderbares Deutschland” service certificate, applicants must fulfil 23 core criteria and 8 (of 18) elective criteria. These include criteria relating to equipment, service or meals.
www.wanderbares-deutschland.de
Bed & Bike
The “Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrradclub” (ADFC), the German cycling club, awards particularly cyclist-friendly accommodation with the “Bed & Bike” quality seal. Here, guests, their bikes and their equipment are particularly well cared for. To obtain a seal, the accommodation must fulfil the minimum criteria such as acceptance of cyclists guests for just one night or the provision of a bicycle repair set. Alongside the minimum criteria, two more services must be provided, such as baggage transfer from the last place of stay to the next, or a packed lunch for guests to take on their journey.
www.bettundbike.de
ServiceQualität Deutschland Q-seal
Businesses and services in the hotel, gastronomy and tourism industry that have been awarded the Q-seal by ServiceQualität Deutschland (“Service Quality Germany”), are continuously optimising the quality of their operation in order to increase customer satisfaction. The Q-seal is a sign that a company has already worked on its quality of service and is monitoring this in the long term. For customers, the seal provides assurance that they can put their trust in a business with tested and certified quality standards.
www.q-deutschland.de