Vietnam's construction boom

The Asian financial crisis in 1997 is almost a faint memory as investors in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other cities rush to construct accommodations, from small 2-star hotels to deluxe 5-star resorts, for the growing number of travellers who come to Vietnam for business and pleasure. The following are just a few examples to illustrate the tremendous growth that Vietnam’s hotel industry is experiencing.

La Résidence Hotel

In early May, Hue will see the opening of La Résidence Hotel and Spa, a hotel ideally situated at 5 Le Loi Street on a two hectare estate along the quiet banks of the Perfume River. The hotel is built around the renovated 1910 Art Deco “Résidence Supérieure de L’annam”, the central administrative representation of French rule in central Vietnam during the colonial era. It offers 122 superior and deluxe rooms and suites with private balconies, air conditioning, electronic safes and a full range of amenities, as well as a business centre, an art gallery, the riverside Restaurant Le Parfum, the lobby bar Le Gouverneur, an outdoor swimming pool, a fitness centre, state-of-the-art conference facilities, and La Flamboyant Spa, which offers a complete range of international and Vietnamese health treatments.

Ho Chi Minh City will see the addition of a 5-star hotel when the Park Hyatt Saigon Hotel opens on Hai Ba Trung Street in the second quarter of this year, ten years after the project was started. The 8-storey building will house 259 guest rooms, meeting halls, a swimming pool, a restaurant and a fitness gym.

Danang

Officials in Danang have granted approval for the construction of the 5-star Danang Beach Resort. With the Marble Mountains serving as the backdrop, the resort will feature retail shops and restaurants along a waterfront promenade, the beachfront Palace Hotel, a retail village, five hotel villas with ocean views, and recreational activities.

Phu Quoc

Earlier this year, construction began on the luxurious 5-star Victoria Phu Quoc Hotel on 20 hectares of land and along a one-kilometre stretch of private beach on Phu Quoc Island. When completed, the hotel will house 50 private villas and 30 bungalows. Victoria Hotels and Resorts is also expanding its name in Hoi An, where it is seeking government approval to build a four million USD resort with 30 deluxe villas on Cua Dai Beach. The group already has a 100-room resort in Hoi An, which opened in 2000.

The Flamingo Resort, to be built 40 kilometres from Hanoi near Dai Lai Lake, will have a 200-room 5-star hotel, a spa centre, heated swimming pool, conference room, cinema, retail centre and 300 residential villas. The site aims to lure guests with three golf courses currently under construction nearby and a casino.

Quang Nam Province’s one billion USD Vina Las Vegas, now renamed the Global Tourism Complex & Trading Centre, has been given the green light to begin construction provided that it abandon its plans for a casino. If it is completed, the complex will house 500 apartments, 8,000 hotel guest rooms, an exhibition centre, a health spa, a 36-hole golf course and entertainment facilities.

20 hectares of Phan Rang in Ninh Thuan Province will be reserved for the Red Coral Resort, a new complex that will house 44 individual bungalows, a 4-star hotel with 200 guest rooms, water sports facilities and an aquarium, where guests can view coral and sea creatures.

Ho Chi Minh City

The International Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, destroyed by a fire in late 2002, will be rebuilt by the Saigon Jewellery Holding Company at a cost of 50 million USD. To be renamed the SJC Tower, the new 40-storey building will house a hotel with 200 guest rooms, luxury apartments and office space, as well as a centre for exchanging and trading jewellery. Construction is expected to begin in early 2006.

New Vam Sat half-day tour

Exotissimo, in cooperation with the Phu Tho Tourist Company, launched a new half-day tour to visit the Vam Sat Ecological Park in Can Gio. The programme, which begins with an early morning transfer by bus and ferry to the park, takes visitors on a sampan ride through a bat swamp, also home to many birds, and a hike through a mangrove forest. Keep an eye out for the tubular mud homes of the mangrove crab, mudskippers skipping across pools of mud, leaves and mangrove tree pods littered on the forest floor and tangled mangrove roots exposed in the dry season. Please contact vietnam@exotissimo.com for more information.
 

Emeraude honoured with award

At a celebration ceremony on the night of 26^th March, The Guide honoured Emeraude Classic Cruises with an award for ‘Best Cruises in Halong Bay,’ for its excellent product and service.

 ATF 2006

2006’s ASEAN Tourism Forum will be held at Myanmar’s Yangon Trade Centre from 13^th to 16^th January 2006. Officials have reiterated that the city’s facilities will be able to accommodate the 1,500 delegates, buyers and media personnel that are expected to attend.