Tourism school launches in Hue

HUE – The Life Resorts Management Company will next week open the first tourism-training hotel in Vietnam with a focus on international standards.

“We like to think we’re opening in the nick of time,” said Chris Duffy, general director of Life Resorts Management.

“The demand for hospitality staff that have been trained to international standards has never been greater. We aim to play a significant role in the development of managers and hotel staff in Vietnam who will be equipped to service the burgeoning international market.”

Life Resorts recently hired Jane Foreman as general manager of the 12-room Villa Hue property. An Australian who most recently worked for the Hyatt Regency on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, Foreman’s background includes experience as a teacher of ESL (English as a Second Language) and in various room division capacities throughout Asia.

“Jane walks into her job as one of the most important GMs in Vietnam,” said Duffy. “Not only will she be managing a staff and training a staff, as all GMs do, but she’ll be setting a standard of excellence among her student-staffers that will have repercussions far beyond the walls of Villa Hue for years to come.”

Serving both domestic and international guests, the hotel opens as a fully operational entity under the name Villa Hue, with management by Life Resorts.

Set on the school’s in-town campus and embraced on three sides by classroom buildings, the hotel debuts with 10 superior rooms and two deluxe rooms.

The hotel was jointly developed by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Lux-Development, a private Luxembourg agency that finances cooperative ventures around the world. Together with VNAT, Lux-Development founded the Hue Tourism School in 2000.

Life Resorts currently owns and operates two resorts in Hoi An and Quy Nhon. In 2008, the company plans to open four additional Life Resorts in Ninh Binh, Ha Long, Sapa and Phan Thiet.

In addition to operating its own properties, the Dutch-owned company has branched out to assume management responsibilities for other resorts.

On the same day – July 17 – that Villa Hue opens, Life Resorts will also reopen the Ho Tram Beach Resort & Spa near Vung Tau as a Life Resort-managed property.

In November, the Blue Ocean Resort will also open as a Life Resort-managed property.

For more information, contact the Life Resort sales and marketing office at (848) 844-3605 ([email protected]) or visit www.life-resorts.com