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BODO KLINGENBERG
General manager of
Hotel de L’Opera Hanoi
I am happy to say that we have
not suffered too much from the ef-
fects of the crisis. Hotel de l’Opera is
Hanoi’s first design-led boutique ho-
tel: everything about this property
sets out to create a unique hotel
experience for our guests. But we
do not only rely on the hardware for
this and always aim to come up with
a service offering to do the design
approach justice.
I believe that a company like
Accor, which is one of the biggest
hotel organisations in the world
with very powerful marketing mus-
cle, can help a lot to not only drive
business to a particular business
unit, but be a major contributor to
ensure an entire country as a des-
tination achieves a level of promi-
nence to keep itself at the forefront
of consumer consciences around
the world.
As a whole, it would be good
to see a Vietnam’s tourism board
become more proactive internation-
ally. Knowing how dynamic some
of our neighbouring countries are in
all their key feeder markets in tire-
lessly promoting their destinations,
it would be good to see more of this
from Vietnam too. Especially consid-
ering that the country has so much
more to offer in terms of variety
compared to some other compara-
ble countries. I am thinking here of
the variety of tourist experiences on
offer from Halong Bay, Sapa, Hanoi,
Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City and
more. This is a safe destination with
a unique mix of cultures.
PATRICK FERNANDEZ
General manager of
BWP Indochine Palace Hue
In Vietnam, demand is increas-
ing overall, but not so much from
the European market. It is better to
focus our attention to the emerging
markets. There are many new mar-
kets with lots of disposable income to
spend on travel - it is better to focus
on those markets rather than spend-
ing our resources on the traditional
markets which are slowing down.
One major issue in Vietnam is re-
peat business. The percentage of re-
peat business is rather low compared
to our neighbours. In Vietnam, there
are plenty of destinations and all our
tour operators offers classic tours of
10 days to two weeks and during
these classic tours the guests see all
of Vietnam and they do not want
come back again for another visit.
Also the authorities should have
some system whereby the feedback
of customers is taken into considera-
tion and preventive measures made
to stop organisations which are not
complying with the system.
Tourists may have had nine good
days, but one day with a bad experi-
ence can destroy the whole. It will
be good if the authorities and travel
industry work together hand-in-hand
to resolve all guests’ issues in a posi-
tive manner to show that we are con-
cerned about the shortcomings. Viet-
nam is an extremely beautiful country
with beautiful beaches, a rich culture,
mountains and rivers, and we need
to showcase this globally to attract
more tourists to Vietnam.
STEPHEN J. ALEXANDER
General manager of
the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel
With the global economies slowly
strengthening, like ripples in a pond,
it is reaching this part of the world.
The judicious planning and bilateral
partnerships the Vietnamese gov-
ernment is forming is giving more
and more confidence to the market
place which germinates more interest
and investment catering to the high-
end tourist. 2014 will see growth in
high end tourism riding the wave of
strengthening economies. It must be
said that the Vietnamese people will
form part of this high-end growth as
they have more disposable income,
are becoming more discerning with
higher expectations.
Under the current conditions,
our customers seem to optimise the
use of their income. The tendency
of focusing on basic products and
services and choosing value for
money while spending on products
and services.
The Hanoi Daewoo Hotel will
maintain our high presence in the
market with plans for improvement
and renovating certain areas to give
a fresh new look. We are planning
many new initiatives to engage our
customers and to excite them to visit
us more frequently and inform their
friends about the wonderful times
can enjoy here. Therefore, the growth
trend will continue to strengthen
throughout 2014, despite the eco-
nomic situation.
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