What is a Qulamark rating?

As you make your way through New Zealand you are going to encounter a black, white and silver fern logo time and again. This is the New Zealand tourist industry's standardised quality rating known as Qualmark. It is used to advise the country's visitors at a glance which accommodations, transport, activities and even stores are rated as the highest quality with regard to a huge list of rating factors such as safety, included facilities, equipment and customer service. Rankings range from 1-star lowest to 5-star highest.

Every category of accommodation – e.g. hostel, camp-site, hotel etc – has different criteria to qualify as 5-star. In addition to the standard ratings there is also the Qualmark Enviro Award – identified by a green logo – which means the service or accommodation meets certain criteria with regard to sustainability and eco-friendliness. This is divided into bronze, silver and gold ratings. 

It is worth noting that an absence of a Qualmark rating doesn't necessarily mean something is bad. It is quite costly to buy the Qualmark assessment so new or small businesses may have chosen to skip the process.

If you want an in-depth understanding of what a 1 to 5 star rating means for a particular service or accommodation and what criteria they have had to fulfil check out the full information on the Qualmark website.