Oct
20
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The hotel oversupply anticipation
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VietNamNet Bridge – The strong capital flow into the hotel sector has created the profuse supply with luxurious hotels established all over the country. The similar thing was seen a decade ago, when Vietnam witnessed the investment boom.
Despite the gloomy real estate market, investors still keep injecting money in hotel projects. A report by STR Global, a market research firm, released in July 2012, Vietnam is one of the countries in Asia Pacific which has the highest number of hotel rooms – 7100.
Dau tu newspaper has estimated that 4500-5000 hotel rooms which can meet 4-5 star standards would become operational by early 2013.
Vietnam once witnessed the hotel investment boom in 1995-1998, when foreign direct investment (FDI) created well-known hotels such as Hilton, Daewoo, Melia in Hanoi, or Renaissance Riverside and New World in HCM City.
The movement of investment in luxurious resorts, hotels
One of differences between the hotel investment boom in 1995-1998 and the one in 2012, is the appearance of big scale resorts now, which was not seen in the past. The Ho Tram Strip Complex project in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, is one of the huge projects with the total investment capital of 4.2 billion dollars.
Lloyd Nathan, CEO of Asian Coast Development Ltd, the investor of the project, said MGM Grand Hotel with 541 rooms is expected to make debut in early 2013. Meanwhile, the second MGM Grand Hotel with 559 rooms would be kicked off soon.
In Thua Thien – Hue province in the central region, the first phase of the Laguna Lang Co resort with the total registered investment capital of 900 million dollars would be operational from November 1, 2012, with Angsana hotel (229 rooms), Banyan Tree resort and a 18-hole golf course.
The ambitious investor plans to execute the next phases of the project which would have seven hotels in total with 2000 hotel rooms, apartment blocs and villas to be situated on an area of 280 hectares.
There is a special thing in the newly developed projects that besides hotel rooms, the resorts would have villas and apartments for sale, while the buyers would be able to rent the villas and apartments.
At Hyatt Regency in Da Nang City, for example, besides the 200 hotel rooms, there are also 182 apartments and 27 villas. At Vinpeal Luxury Da Nang, there are 200 hotel rooms and 39 villas opened for rent.
This proves to be the model followed by many other investors, who are developing projects, including Crowne Plaza Nha Trang or Blue Saphire in Vung Tau City.
Oversupply warned
Experts have voiced their warnings about the oversupply of hotel rooms, which would put big difficulties for investors. The problem is that a big amount of hotels has been put into operation in the context of the economic downturn, which has led to the decrease of the number of travelers.
Kai Marchus Schroter, CEO of the HTM Hotel Management and Tourism, said hotel developers would meet big difficulties in the next year, partially because of the oversupply of hotels and the cutthroat competition among the developers in some certain cities and tourism sites.
In the sea city of Da Nang in the central region, for example, there were only two 5-star hotels in 2010, namely Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Furama Resort, while the figure has increased recently with the appearance of Mercure, InterContinental, Hyatt Regency and Crowne Plaza.
Ha Noi Moi newspaper has quoted CBRE’s report, a real estate service provider, as saying that Hanoi would have 300 3-4 star hotel rooms in the fourth quarter of 2012, while it would have 1000 more hotel rooms in 2013.
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Oct
20
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Next year, a lot of co - organise various cultural activities between Vietnam and Bulgaria
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Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh and Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Simeon Dyankov agreed to co- next year during a meeting in Hanoi on October 18.
Accordingly, a series of cultural activities such as a 2013 Vietnam cultural week in Bulgaria and a similar event in Vietnam, a Vietnam’s ceramics exhibition, a display of objects from heritages and traditional music and art shows in Bulgaria will be organised.
Minister Hoang Tuan Anh said during the Vietnam cultural week in Bulgaria, Vietnam will introduce to Bulgarian friends special films, and open various exhibition featuring the people and land of Vietnam, besides other activities.
Vietnam will continue to exchange cultural information with Bulgaria, and invite Bulgaria to a film festival and an international circus festival it will host later this year. Dyankov applauded Vietnam’s initiative of organising the cultural week in each country, telling his host that Bulgaria will later this month hold a photo and art works exhibition with the participation of Vietnam.
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Oct
20
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Should or should not develop medical tourism
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More and more foreigners come to Vietnam over the last five years in medical tours. However, Vietnam still does not think of developing medical tourism in a professional way.
Great potentials, modest investments
The Central Institute of Acupuncture headed by Professor Nguyen Tai Thu, who has been well-known not only in Vietnam but all over the world as well, has been pioneering in receiving foreign tourists who come to have healthcare services.
Joining forces with the Acupuncture Medical Tourism International Group and domestic travel firms since 2006, the institute has attracted a lot of groups of foreign travelers to Vietnam, where they can enjoy acupuncture services and the elites of the oriental medicine. They can also approach a new way of disease treatment – Qi Gong. Most of the clients of the institute are from Europe and America.
However, with the limitations in the material facilities and the lack of high grade utilities, the services now just can satisfy a limited number of clients, while the institute remains incapable to expand the services. Moreover, no money has been spent to advertise the services.
In HCM City, the Cho Ray Hospital has been attracting a lot of Cambodian travelers to come for treatment. A report showed that the number of Cambodian patients treated at the hospital has increased by 90 percent over the last four years, 2008-2011.
However, the travelers arrange their tours to Vietnam to have medical treatment themselves, while hospitals and travel firms have not cooperated with each other to develop services and increase the revenue.
In fact, local authorities have realized the benefits which can be brought by medical tourism products. Quang Ninh province, for example, is now providing a tour, with which travelers can visit the Yen Tu sacred temple and have medical treatment with herbs. Khanh Hoa province has become well known as the place for tourists to have hot mineral spring, mud bath and enjoy herbal spa services.
However, these services have been designed as just a part of the tour packages, while no separated tour like this has been provided.
Explaining the low popularity of the services, Do Dinh Cuong, a tourist expert, said the services are really very attractive, but they have not been developed well due to the lack of the systems that can provide relating services.
Meanwhile, the service quality provided by the medical establishments still cannot satisfy the high demand from international tourists. Most of the establishments have small scale, while the staff do not have sufficient foreign language skills.
Travel firms and medical establishments need to join hands
MICE (meeting, incentive, conference, exhibition) tourism, medical tourism and educational tourism can all be seen in the list of the new tourism products named in the tourism development master plan by 2020.
However, to date, no cooperation deal between travel firms and medical establishments has been made to exploit the potential type of tourism.
Travel firms say hospitals and medical establishments themselves do not think of receiving foreign clients, therefore, they do not intend to make investment to lure more clients. Meanwhile, the material facilities at hospitals are just enough to serve the domestic demand.
In fact, a lot of private run hospitals which can meet the international standards in material facilities, remain unknown to clients, while the qualified physicians here have been mostly hired from state owned hospitals.
Therefore, an executive of a travel firm said, the firms now can only design tours for travelers to have medical treatment at traditional medical establishment, where people can receive oriental therapies.
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Khanh Hoa province considers to install cameras to prevent crime
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20/10/2012 08:39:10
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Luxury cruise ship will be introduced by Royal Caribean
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20/10/2012 08:32:57
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Hue host seminar discusses community tourism services
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20/10/2012 08:30:27
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Concentrate on promoting Vietnam’s tourism in Australia
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20/10/2012 08:28:37
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Welcomes Hanoi Gift Show 2012
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20/10/2012 08:26:55
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Ha Giang prrovince and growth in tourism
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20/10/2012 08:24:59
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Welcomes Vietnam - China singing contest
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20/10/2012 08:21:34
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Vietnamese paintings get attraction from Malaysian audiences
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20/10/2012 08:14:27
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Vietnam Museum of Ethnology ranking at Tripadvisor
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20/10/2012 08:11:33
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