Hospitality On The Path To Recovery

Hospitality On The Path To Recovery
By Quang Tuan
Monday, January 3,2011,17:26 (GMT+7)

Sensing sunny days ahead, hoteliers are committed to improve facilities and services

Vietnam received 440,000 and 450,000 tourists in October and November this year, contributing to more than 4.6 million foreign tourists visiting Vietnam in the past 11 months. It expects to welcome some five million foreign arrivals for the whole year, much higher than the initial target of 4.2 million.

Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said the figure is impressive given the slight recoveries around the world since last year. Foreign arrivals from Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, China and the U.S. have experienced big growth this year.
Apart from the 1,000th anniversary celebration of Hanoi and ASEAN meetings, the number reflects the promotion trips to ASEAN, European and American markets during 2009 and the first months of 2010 by tourism authorities and businesses. The economies were recovering especially in the U.S. and more people were back to holidaying again.

Hotels move forward

The growth has been good for the economy and welcome news for the hospitality industry. Hoteliers say it validates their belief in Vietnam’s potential as a major travel destination.

“Vietnam is gaining popularity within the region as a travel hot spot, and destinations like Hoi An, Danang and Nha Trang are comparable to better-known resort destinations such as Phuket or Pattaya in Thailand and getting more and more popular,” says Thomas Schmelter, IHG Regional General Manager – Vietnam and Cambodia of InterContinental Asiana Saigon.

Hotels have seen an increase in the number of international guests, not only in respect to accommodation but also for meetings and incentives. All their key feeder markets show a strong upward trajectory. In other words, all market segments are performing above expectations.

According to Hide Ishiyama, Legend Saigon Hotel general manager, during the recent meeting with general managers from other deluxe hotels in the city, they said hotels had less than 50% occupancy on average last year. “But this year, the global economy has the slight recovery. So, the rate is up to 60-70%,” Ishiyama said.
“Our business is significantly better than last year, especially November,” said John Gardner, Caravelle Hotel general manager. Meanwhile, Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers general manager Dietmar Kielnhofer, told the Weekly that the hotel has seen a considerable return and increase in all segments of its customers from 2009. There has been a great increase from the corporate and leisure segments not only with rooms but also at food and beverage outlets. “Generally, 2010 has been an extremely successful year for us in terms of occupancy, market share, profit conversion, food and beverage activities and promotions. All our key performance matrixes show a significant improvement compared to 2009,” added Kielnhofer.

Hotels see the upcoming festive season as a chance for them to maximize the business for both rooms and food & beverages for the whole year of 2010. They are trying their best to provide exceptional services and foods to guests and create a happy festive atmosphere throughout the hotels.

To serve guests better

The newest deluxe hotel in HCM City, InterContinental Asiana Saigon, offers contemporary luxury and personalized service and a wide delectable selection of food & beverage outlets. Early this month, it signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz Vietnam to buy a luxury car as an additional service to make its guests feel more comfortable.
“Cooperating with luxury hotels and resorts has been put in as one of our key strategies so far,” says Udo Loersch, general director of Mercedes-Benz Vienam. “At InterContinental Asiana Saigon and Mercedes-Benz, we share the same commitment to excellence in the way we offer the best services to customers. Premium transportation is also an important element.”

Previously, Caravelle Hotel and Park Hyatt Saigon also signed with the German firm to buy luxury cars. This shows that the number of VIP guests is increasing, and premium transportation services are a strategy to keep it that way.

“At Park Hyatt Saigon, we intend to lead the chart in the hospitality service standards and compare ourselves with world-class premier hotels,” says Michael Golden, the hotel’s general manager. “We are in the fifth year of operation in Vietnam, where our image and reputation has developed extremely well. However, our goal is to continue to lift the standards of service and product offers to our discerning guests.”

Caravelle Hotel has become the first customer of Mercedes-Benz in-car hotspot, which makes it available for passengers to use Internet and email wirelessly and fast on the road. Currently, more than 80% of five-star hotels across Vietnam are using Mercedes cars like InterContinental Asiana Saigon, Caravelle Hotel, New World Hotel Saigon, Windsor Plaza Hotel, Park Hyatt Saigon, New Horizon Hotel, Legend Hotel Saigon, Celadon Hue Hotel and Grand Plaza Hanoi.

“We are proud that Mercedes-Benz is the first choice in the minds of premium hotels and resorts and also happy to contribute to the premium services to satisfy the high-class travelers and add more value to the country’s tourism industry,” says Loersch.

Caravelle Hotel has been working with owners and an interior design company to completely renovate the hotel starting mid-2010. Sheraton Saigon has upgraded televisions to big, flat screens and increased Internet speed to 10 megabytes per second in guest rooms. Investing more into human resources and technology also receive more interests from hotels this year.

Meanwhile, Schmelter says for Vietnam, it is looking at creating nearly 5,000 new jobs in the next few years to serve the group’s six hotels and resorts here. “To find the right talent, train them and ensure they are set up for success is both a challenge and an incredibly important priority for us,” Schmelter says.

With the Vietnamese traits of hospitality, hard working, openness to new things and service, the future is looking bright for hospitality here.