ArtBuild Hotel Group participates in assisting the State Agency of Tourism & Resorts in the formation of new criteria for categorizing hotels in Ukraine

ArtBuild Hotel Group took an active role as part of the expert group established by the State Agency of Tourism and Resorts in Ukraine, for discussing new techniques and procedures to categorize hospitality infrastructure projects.

            In November 2011 the State Agency of Tourism and Resorts issued three new projects that provided a new framework for evaluation and procedure of awarding the categories for hotels as well and administrative responsibility for the misuse of category objects of tourist infrastructure. For discussion of these legislative initiatives and work on their adjustment an expert group has been formed that has participated in several discussions and work sessions in November and December 2011. Its membership includes representatives of the leading hotel associations of Ukraine, the hotel operator Premier International, international law firm Arzinger, and also ArtBuild Hotel Group, which are also the official representative of the international hotel chain Best Western International.

            After analyzing the documents developed by the Ministry, ArtBuild Hotel Group has prepared and submitted to the Agency a list of proposals for revision of the criteria in awarding hospitality categories. By working together, the expert committee's proposals regarding hotel standards have been accepted and incorporated into the main documents by the State Agency of Ukraine of Tourism and Resorts. As far as how the process of categorization will occur, the members of the expert group and the representatives of the Agency have not yet come to a unified position. In the current version of the working edition, the Agency assumes to give categories for hotels on a declarative basis. However, participants of the expert group agreed that the declarative principle of establishing categories, without an external professional valuation, is inadmissible because it doesn't match any international practice or requirements of customers.

          "Our company intends to defend this position, – said Oleksii Evchenko, managing partner of ArtBuild Hotel Group. – We as other members of the expert group are ready to develop and submit for the consideration to the State Agency of Ukraine of Tourism and Resorts an alternative mechanism of evaluating hotel facilities, which will help create clear rules to limit unfair competition and provide for future customers a proven and reliable method of standardization in which they can put their trust. Our company deeply appreciates the initiative of the Agency of Tourism and Resorts with regard to its willingness to cooperate with representatives of the hospitality business community. We hope that this joint effort between the public and private sectors will be able to develop an optimal mechanism that will allow the Ukrainian hotel market to reach new heights".