Mövenpick launches Vietnam venture
HO CHI MINH CITY — Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ first foray into Vietnam has seen it take over management of the Omni Hotel Saigon, which opened in 1994 as the city’s first international-standard hotel.
The Mövenpick Hotel Saigon – once the headquarters of America’s Central Intelligence Agency in Vietnam – will be refurbished and upgraded to meet Ho Chi Minh’s surging demand for upscale hotels.
“This is a move we’ve been eyeing for a long time,†said Hubert Klemenz, the hotel’s general manager and the chain’s vice president of operations for Vietnam.
“Statistics continue to show that Vietnam has massive tourism and business traveller appeal. The timing is right in every way.â€
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts arrival in Ho Chi Minh City is the first in a series of steps the group plans for a country that welcomed more than four million visitors in 2007—a 16 percent increase over the previous year.
A similar overhaul-and-operate strategy is planned for the former Guoman Hotel in Hanoi, starting in January, as well as the development and handling of up to three more hotels in Vietnam by 2010.
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