Article provided by UHRA.

Ukrainian hotels since the beginning of the war in many cities serve as hubs to accommodate refugees, cook hot lunches and provide outside catering during evacuation from different war inflamed areas for Ukrainian defenders and volunteers. The hotels also provide storage space for humanitarian assistance, Red Cross aid and other activities aimed to support suffering civilians. Recently the Ukrainian hotels launched an action “Visit Ukraine In Future”, aimed to support Ukrainian hospitality industry, that takes part in providing rear support for the military actions and carrying significant financial expenses since the war began.

The State Agency for Tourism Development and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy had officially supported the action initiated by the Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association (UHRA) on behalf of the hospitality industry’s community.

People from all over the world who care about supporting Ukraine, its economy, and hospitality industry can make “donated booking” of rooms at Ukrainian hotels for any date throughout the year of 2022. Hospitality industry representatives specify that they would welcome guests visiting Ukraine right after Ukraine’s victory.

“Tourism industry, similar to any other sphere – suffer from war quite significantly. Whereas, in Kyiv for example some hotels provide support to the territorial defense, military personnel, cook and deliver food to defenders. In the temporarily occupied cities any activities have almost been suspended, and the hotels still use opportunities if any to help the local population” – told Ms. Mariana Oleskiv, head of the State Agency for Tourism Development.

“We have a lot of inquiries from colleagues from all over the world, and we see great willingness of the world community to support Ukraine in general, and its tourism sphere in particular. And therefore, we’ve got such an idea jointly with the professional Association to provide an option right away to book future trips to Ukraine. It would let people support the tourism industry. After our victory they would visit and see our cities, our people, whose courage is currently respected by the wholeworld.” – added Ms. Oleskiv.

“Beginning the very first day of the initiative, it was already supported by dozens of hospitality entities. Such hotels list is updated regularly at the Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association www.uhra.com.ua and informational portal Visit UKRAINE https://visitukraine.today. A “donated booking” can be done via these hotels’ websites. A donation amount depends on the number of nights you wish to pay by a credit card, and the amounts start from 40-50 Eur per night independently of a booking season”. – says Ms. Irina Sidletska, President of Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association (UHRA).

She added that the Association receives multiple inquiries from colleagues of foreign hotel associations – HOTREC members, that are willing to support the hospitality industry and Ukrainians, who suffer from the actions of the neighboring country-aggressor.

“This action is a simple way to support hotels, that during a period of forced downtime take part in supporting the rear. Foremost, in the active military fighting areas, hotels serve as an important link in temporary accommodation of evacuated civilians, meals cooking, humanitarian aid points organizing and household services. And it means expenses not obvious from the first glance, such as hotel staff work payment, food procurement, security etc.” – the Association representatives said.

“This is a direct and efficient way of support for hospitality entities, when there’s an opportunity to book and prepay any number of nights for any period throughout the year of 2022 in a hotel, which you selected to support. The obtained payment would allow hotels to work in the mode of providing support to the military rear, and in the future when this nightmare ends to welcome its donors”, – stated the head of the Ukrainian Hotel and Resort Association (UHRA).

On March 5th Bloomberg agency reported that Airbnb renting service received bookings for almost US$ 2m in Ukraine from people, who are not accommodated in the booked rooms, while just wanting to provide financial support for Ukrainians suffering from war. According to the general director of Airbnb Brian Chesky, there were about 61 thousand nights booked in Ukraine by March 2nd – 3rd. Almost three quarters of the bookers were from the US, UK, and Canada.

About UHRA:

• UHRA – Ukrainian Hotel & Resort Association – is a non-profit public entity serving as an umbrella for volunteer engaged member hotel and resort facilities and hotel development companies working in Ukraine with the aim to foster steady development of the industry. Since its foundation in October 2020, 92 hotels from 23 regions of Ukraine with more than 5000 employees in total had joined the Association. New and existing members are free to join or finish membership with the Association.
  For details, please use the following contacts: telegram Uhra2022, +380443913020, [email protected], web: www.uhra.com.ua

Additional information about SATD and Visit Ukraine:

• The State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine (SATD) is the central body of executive power that implements the state policy in the field of tourism and resorts (except for the implementation of state supervision (control) in the field of tourism and resorts). The work of the SATD is coordinated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine through the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. According to the Cabinet Decree No 995, the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine was created on December 3, 2019. On March 3, 2020 Chairperson of the SATD became Maryana Oleskiv.

Contact information:

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DARTUkraine/

Telegram: @DARTUkraine

Website: https://www.tourism.gov.ua/

• Visit Ukraine is the national association in the field of tourism with an information portal for foreign tourists travelling in Ukraine and Ukrainians planning a trip abroad.
  For 5 years we have presented Ukraine to the whole world. Over the past 2 years, we have helped more than 5 million foreign citizens learn about Ukraine, its incredible places, the rules for crossing the Ukrainian border, how to safely enter, and also stay in the country during a pandemic. Every day, more than 1,000 people apply to the round-the-clock hotline (online chats and call center) regarding entry and exit to/from Ukraine.
  On February 24, 2022, at 5 am, Russia declared war on Ukraine and attacked our country and its civilian population.
  Since that day, Visit Ukraine has been transformed into an information portal for help, where every Ukrainian and foreign citizen can get the necessary information on how to act in a critical situation, where to go, addresses of bomb shelters, how to leave the country or evacuate from a dangerous region, how to enter Ukraine to support our freedom and independence, etc.
  The hotline management team is scattered throughout Ukraine, but we are still in touch 24/7! And we will continue to work for everyone who cares about Ukraine!
  To donate, please, visit https://uhra.com.ua/en/donane-us-en/. 

You might also be interested in reading:

Airbnb announced that Airbnb.org will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine and they need your help to achieve this. These stays will be funded by Airbnb, Inc., donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, and the generosity of Hosts through Airbnb.org.

There is an imminent need for short-term accommodation and people who open their homes in nearby countries, including Poland, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, France, Netherlands, UK and Ireland.

• If you are already hosting on Airbnb, you can go ahead and opt-in your existing listings by following the opt-in flow here. Please see here recording of the opt-in flow.
• You will be offered to choose whether you want to host free of charge or at a discounted price. These stays will be funded by Airbnb.org.
• All your bookings will come in as a request to book which you will have to review and accept. Please ensure your calendar is up to date.
• Airbnb Host fee is waived for free and discounted Airbnb.org stays.

• If you are not hosting on Airbnb, but are interested in offering housing for refugees, please follow the sign up flow for Airbnb.org here. Please note: If a new listing is created via the Airbnb.org flow, it will only be available to Airbnb.org guests and you will be able to offer it only for free of charge. For listings to be visible on both Airbnb.com and Airbnb.org and to be able to offer it with payment, you will need to first create your listings on Airbnb.com here and then opt into Airbnb.org here.

We know that Hosts and guests on Airbnb around the world will be eager to stand up and assist this massive effort to help those fleeing Ukraine. Airbnb.org will work directly through nonprofits on the ground, who are responsible for booking and coordinating stays for refugee guests. Airbnb is also dedicated to the safety of Hosts and guests in Ukraine, and are actively working to support the local community.

You might also be interested in reading: