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ALBERT LAFUENTE
Area director of sales and marketing of
Banyan Tree Lang Co
With improved international flights
to Danang, we expect the destination
to attract more international MICE busi-
ness. We have seen this slowly devel-
oping in the past three years and we
believe that this year will even be bet-
ter for the Central Coast. The opening
of new hotels and resorts in the area
means that there will be more market-
ing efforts to promote the destination
– not just to MICE organisers, but to
leisure travellers as well.
What is holding MICE back is the
lack of a unified campaign to promote
the destination. Most of the recent
initiatives to promote the Central Coast
are private sector led. We encourage
the government to set aside a bigger
tourism marketing budget so we will be
able to compete on a level playing field.
While we agree that Vietnam continues
to be a top draw amongst tourists, we
need to implement a blue print, a long
term plan to sustain the viability of Vi-
etnam as a preferred holiday and MICE
destination. And granting that the gov-
ernment or VNAT has a plan in place, it
should be executed with the perspective
that is attuned to our target markets and
this has to be shared with the stakehold-
ers of the industry – hotel marketing
professionals - so there will be a collec-
tive understanding of the government’s
initiatives and we can help fine tune it to
appeal to a broader market.
NGUYEN TUAN JOHN
General manager of Diamond Bay
Resort & Spa Nha Trang
Nha Trang has an array of ven-
ues and services and offers clients the
special option of an outdoor evening
by the seaside or an elegant banquet
room in the city, an experience most
major cities cannot offer, no matter
how much white sand they import.
Experienced in hosting large-scale
events, the tenacious workforce of
Nha Trang is eagerly willing to set new
standards of hospitality and they are
determined to prove their capability
to accommodate MICE of any nature
or scale.
There will always be great oppor-
tunities to develop the MICE market;
we have a steady track record so far
and I believe it will only keep flourish-
ing. Furthermore, Nha Trang’s popular-
ity is on the up, while many travellers
have already been to Singapore and
Thailand, so Vietnam has the oppor-
tunity to establish itself as an exciting,
new destination for MICE organisers
in Asia. The media exposure over the
past five years has been explosive, at-
tracting many different travellers and
companies to discover Nha Trang.
I believe the only disadvantage is
the limited number of direct flights
to Nha Trang, but since we are a new
market and the airport was only recent-
ly upgraded to international standards
in 2009, it’s only a matter of time until
the airport runways are congested.
FELIX ABT
Director of Top Team Nha Trang
(topteam.vn)
To be honest, I’m a little worried
about the development of Nha Trang.
However, there is always a solution
to the problems. Take Monaco for ex-
ample. A small country on the Medi-
terranean Sea, it is the most densely
populated country in the world, with
the highest GDP per head. It became a
top MICE destination thanks to excel-
lent infrastructure, quality services and
a very clean environment. Nha Trang
has much more to offer than Monaco,
but promoting and facilitating budg-
et tourism is an important obstacle to
the development of MICE which is, by
definition, upmarket. I have observed
budget tour groups in four and five-star
hotels dropping cigarettes and chewing
gum on the floors and banging room
doors, disturbing traditional five-star
guests who are potential MICE clients
who will, after such an experience, stay
away from Nha Trang and go to other
MICE destinations elsewhere.
If Nha Trang wants to become a
prime MICE destination, a longer-term
strategy to improve the infrastructure
and to effectively protect the environ-
ment is required. Instead of short-term
gains, such a strategy would be highly
beneficial in the medium term. This
would lead to a labour-intensive econo-
my with more and better qualified jobs
in the hospitality industry, higher in-
comes and a living standard.