Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts says it has terminated, its management contract for the Banyan Tree Al Areen resort in Bahrain with immediate effect.

Banyan Tree announced on 8 April its intention to terminate the contract as a next step to its earlier petition in March to wind up Al Areen Holding Company, the owner of the resort, for continuing breaches of the management contract.

Banyan Tree says notices have been sent to all staff, suppliers, travel agents and wholesalers, and hotel guests.

“The termination was supposed to be effective 15 days after issuance of the notice if the breaches were not rectified, and during this transition period, Banyan Tree was supposed to continue to manage the resort as per the management contract,” says Ariel Vera, Group Managing Director of Banyan Tree. “However, upon issuance of the termination notice on 8 April, the owner decided to further breach the contract and immediately took over the resort on the following day. This has resulted in infringements on our brand rights, and inconvenience and confusion to our guests and associates, travel partners and suppliers. We therefore have no choice but to immediately cease our involvement with the resort.”

Banyan Tree says it will be taking legal action against Al Areen for this further violation of the management contract. In the meantime, it says its current priority is to mitigate the negative effects of the immediate termination on its associates, guests, business partners, suppliers, and travel agents.