The Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association (UHRA), together with the State Tourism Development Agency of Ukraine, has issued an open letter to seven international hotel operators asking them to withdraw from project management or withdraw their franchise in Russia.

As noted in the release, the open letter was sent to each of the seven international hotel operators that have branded hotels in Russia under management or under a franchise: Hilton, IHG hotels & resorts, Marriott International, Accor, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotel Group.

As of March 17, only a formal comment has been received from Marriott, which duplicates the March 10 statement.

The UHRA stressed that they certainly appreciate the humanitarian support and assistance that hotel companies sincerely provide to Ukrainians fleeing Putin's war. At the same time, UHRA and the tourism agency are disappointed with the "procrastination" chosen by hotel operators in the matter of terminating/continuing their business in the Russian Federation.

"Contracts are developed by the hotel operators themselves and their professional lawyers; they contain many provisions that allow the unilateral painless exit of the operator from the operating hotel, for example, force majeure, failure to fulfill financial obligations, the onset of harmful conditions for doing business or violating one's own ethical business codes," the UHRA said in the release.