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Vietnam booms, but hotels remain a challenge
BANGKOK – The quickening pace of foreign direct investment will help to ease Vietnam’s chronic four and five star hotel shortage.
There are only 25 five star hotels and 74 four-star properties in a country where tourism is booming.
Foreign investors pumped US$1.7 billion into Vietnam last year, funding 47 projects.
Among recent developments, Movenpick Hotels and Resorts will manage two existing 5-star properties in partnership with the owning company, VinaCapital Hospitality Co Ltd.
The properties – Movenpick’s first in Vietnam – will open in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi by the end of the year after a complete refurbishment.
The 251-room Movenpick Hotel Saigon is in Ho Chi Minh’s Phu Nhuan district, close to Tan Son Nhat International Airport and the trade fair grounds.
Movenpick Hotel Hanoi is in the business district in the city centre, a 40-minute drive to Noi Bai International Airport.
“Once the renovations are completed, we will have two exceptional city hotels here,” said Movenpick Hotels and Resorts president and CEO, Jean Gabriel Peres.
The Vietnam National Adminstration of Tourism (VNAT) is meeting its 2005-2010 target of increasing international tourist visitor numbers by 10-20 percent per year.
The administration has a 2010 target of six million international tourists, up from a target of five million in 2008.
Vietnam’s tourism promotion will be boosted by advertsing on CNN and in Paris Match magazine.
“This is the first time the government has spent money on international tourism promotion,” said Pham Quang Hung, director of VNAT’s international cooperation department.,
Vietnam is also planning a series of events for Visit Mekong Delta Year 2008, including the Hue Festival (June 3-11), an international firework competition in Da Nang (March) and the Miss Universe contestsin Nha Trang in July/August.
Vietnam is also hosting next year’s ASEAN Tourism Forum, at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi from January 5-12.
Ian Jarrett
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