Thien Minh basks in the sun

Vietnam’s Thien Minh Group is determined to become Vietnam’s largest travel and hotel management firm. The pledge follows its acquisition of The Victoria Hotels & Resorts from Hong Kong-based EEM Victoria Limited and the group recently gathered all Victoria Hotels & Resort chain members to exchange experiences to formulate some battle plans.

Victoria Hotels & Resorts, formerly owned by Hong Kong’s EEM Victoria Limited, opened its first hotel in Vietnam in 1997. Last year, Thien Minh Group entirely acquired the Victoria Hotels & Resorts chain at the price around $45 million. At present, it is operating five four-star hotels and resorts in Vietnam and one in Cambodia, including Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort & Spa, Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa, Victoria Sapa Resort & Spa, Victoria Chau Doc Hotel, Victoria Can Tho Resort & Spa and Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa.

Tania Koesten, director of operations of Victoria Hotels & Resorts, said these hotels and resorts had been operating very effectively since it being owned by Thien Minh Group, thanks to the synergies with the Vietnamese group as well as the reputation of Victoria Hotels & Resorts during past 15 years.

Founded in 1994, Thien Minh Travel was originally set up as an inbound tour operator under the brand name “Buffalo Tours” and primarily operated tours for the first 10 years. In 2004, Thien Minh expanded its service into hotel operations by purchasing equities in the Festival Hue Hotel.

“Our goal is to become a leading firm in the travel and hospitality industry in Vietnam. Given the advantages of a well-managed hotel and resort chain, creativeness, strong financial ability and the experience of subsidiaries, we believe in our success,” said Koesten.

To further improve its business operation, Sim Tran, Victoria Hotels & Resorts sales and marketing director, said the firm would focus on service quality to satisfy tourists. She added Thien Minh Group would build a vocational school to train tourism management skills with the priority for staff working at Victoria Hotels & Resorts chain.

Le Tien Dung, chairman of Quang Nam Tourism Association, said Thien Minh Group was working to meet international hospitality management standards. This would ensure strong growth in occupancy rates at hotels and resorts in the chain, he added.