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exceed it, depending on how Decem-
ber goes,” said Bodo Klingenberg, the
hotel’s general manager.
Newcomer Pullman Hotel Hanoi
was fully rebranded at the beginning
of this year. General manager Pieter
de Weerd told
Timeout
occupancy has
increased strongly: “For this last quar-
ter of 2013, we witnessed a strong
increase in volume thanks to some big
MICE groups and diplomatic delega-
tions visiting Hanoi.”
Furthermore, the hospitality indus-
try is being bolstered by the new inter-
national hospitality brands landing in
Vietnam, including JW Marriott Hanoi
Hotel, the first JW Marriott brand in
Vietnam. “Our aim is to be a preferred
MICE venue for Vietnam, Southeast
Asia and global organizations and asso-
ciations,” said Bob Fabiano, the hotel’s
general manager.
In the ancient capital of Hue, prof-
its are also set to go up thanks to the
re-opening of Hue’s Phu Bai airport.
According to Patrick Fernandez, general
manager of BWP Indochine Palace, his
hotel occupancy has already increased
by 64 per cent over 2012.
“These results came even though
the Phu Bai airport was closed from the
last week of March 2013 to September
2013. The airport closure did not have
much impact on our business as we
made plans to mitigate it. Our total
revenue increased by 56 per cent in
comparison to the year to date October
2012 ,” said Fernandez.
The newcomer Novotel Danang
Premier Han River also welcomed a
lot of local and international tourists
within seven months of operation. “We
just opened in May, but the hotel has
surfed on the very strong growth wave
in visitor arrivals. The 2013 room rate
reflected the newly-open status of the
hotel, with not all facilities available
in the first months of operation,” said
Jean-Paul Fontenille, general manager
of Novotel Danang Premier Han River.
He told
Timeout
that the sustain-
able growth of international flights to
Danang will further increase profits.
April 2014 will see the return of direct
flights from Russia to hopefully put Da-
nang on a par with other major resort
destinations in Vietnam. “2014 will be
a year of consolidation for the tour-
ism sector in Danang after the record
growth experience in 2013,” he added.
The old town of Hoi An, one of the
most attractive destinations in Vietnam,
showed stability in 2013. “Our resort’s
occupancy was a little higher than pre-
vious years. We have also adjusted the
room rate to about 6 per cent higher
than last year,” said Truong Minh Toan,
director of sales at Palm Garden Resort
Hoi An.
In the highlands, the Dalat Edensee
had a successful second year. “After the
previous year of operation, Dalat Eden-
see is known by many local and foreign
tourists, so our occupancy this year shot
up dramatically. However, the econom-
ic crisis continues so we will still of-
fer attractive promotion programs with
reasonable costs for all clients in 2014,”
said Le Minh Son, general manager of
Dalat Edensee Resort.
On Phu Quoc island, with its new
international airport, hoteliers are hap-
py with their business. “2013 has been
a very good year with 80 per cent oc-
cupancy,” said Le Bihan Ronan, gen-
eral manager of Mango Bay resort Phu
Quoc. This is mainly due to an upturn
Opposite page: The InterContinental Danang
Sun Peninsula Resort
This page: JW Marriott Hanoi Hotel