Giant Nha Trang resort changes management

Hon Tre Tourist and Trade Company has signed a contract with the Hong Kong-based Swiss-Belhotel International for the hotel management company to operate the 500-room VinPearl Resort and Spa which opened one month ago.
Prior to its dismissal, Furama, operator of the Furama Resort Danang and the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, had provided pre-opening management for VinPearl.
Hon Tre executives were not available for comment on the company’s decision.
Swiss-Belhotel’s national director of operations and development, Jan Hilhorst, said the resort’s first 200 rooms were almost fully occupied over the Tet holidays, with promotional prices of $77 to $99 a night.
The contract marks a new development for Swiss-Belhotel, which has recently started to aggressively expand its business in Vietnam, signing a number of contracts to manage hotels under construction across the country.
The company, which has operated the Hanoi Horison Hotel for the past five years, has also won the contract to manage the Golden Sand in Hoi An, a five-star, 212-room resort developed by Danang Business and Consultant Corporation that will open in June.
The company will also provide pre-opening technical assistance and operate and manage two properties in Hue, the five-star, 280-room Hung Vuong Hotel and the four-star, 80-room Abalone Spa & Resort, both set to open mid this year.
It will also operate a giant recreation and entertainment complex in Cua Lo consisting of a number of two- to five-star hotels. The $50 million project was licensed last month to a joint venture between Bien Hoa City’s Hong Thai Construction Consultancy Company and the Australian-based Safekeeping Investment Trust.
Hilhorst said the company would continue to look for opportunities to operate new hotels in the Halong Bay, Quy Nhon and Danang areas.
Swiss-Belhotel manages and operates four and five-star hotels and resorts in Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The French Accor group is currently the largest hotel management company in Vietnam, operating seven properties in Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Thiet, Dalat and Hanoi. Another French company, Victoria Hotels and Resorts, manages five properties in Hoi An, Can Tho, Chau Doc, Sapa and Phan Thiet.