JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesian hotel chain Archipelago International has confirmed its exit from Cuba citing US sanctions, with the group telling AFP on Friday it may resume operations "if the situation improves".
Foreign businesses including several international hotel chains have ended or vastly reduced their presence in Cuba ahead of a Friday deadline from US President Donald Trump to sever ties with military conglomerate GAESA, which controls much of the island's economy and is sanctioned by Washington.
Archipelago International announced in a statement dated Wednesday and shared with AFP on Friday the "conclusion of management arrangement" for its six hotels in Cuba, operated under the Aston brand.
Sources close to the sector told AFP this week that Archipelago International had ended its operations in Cuba.
The decision follows similar moves by Canadian chain Blue Diamond and Spain's Melia and Iberostar, which have severed ties with a total of 89 properties between them, most of them associated with GAESA.
The disinvestments mark another blow to an already crumbling tourism industry, as the island creaks under the weight of a US energy blockade imposed in January.
Foreign hotel chains, which arrived in Cuba in the 1990s, operate under one of two models: they either manage properties in partnership with the tourism ministry or through agreements with Gaviota, GAESA's tourism entity.
Archipelago International said in its statement that it would fully transfer management of the six hotels to their owner "due to US sanctions requirements".
The Jakarta-based firm, Southeast Asia's largest privately owned hotel management group, added the properties in Cuba would no longer be part of its portfolio.
Archipelago International, however, was open to resuming operations in Cuba "if the situation improves", the group's senior director Sari Kusumaningrum told AFP on Friday. -- AFP
