Swiss firm to manage two luxury hotels in Vietnam
Switzerland’s Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has said it will take over management of the five-star hotel Omni Saigon in downtown HCMC and another, Guoman Hotel Hanoi, in the capital city.
The forthcoming management of the two hotels will be a benchmark for Mövenpick, the company said in a statement, because this will be the first time it enters the burgeoning hotel market in Vietnam and this will mark a major step toward expanding its operations to Asia.
“We are proud of the fact that thanks to VinaCapital and A-1 International (Vietnam) Corporation Limited, we will very soon be gaining a foothold in Vietnam too, after Thailand and Singapore,” said Jean Gabriel Pérès, president & CEO of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.
The company said it had signed relevant management agreements with the Omni owners, VinaCapital and A-1 International (Vietnam) Corporation Limited.
The two five-star hotels will bear the brand of Mövenpick by end-2008 after extensive upgrades.
Stephen O’Grady, managing director of the VinaCapital Hospitality Co. Ltd, said in the statement that “We’re delighted to be working with the renowned Swiss hotel group.”
The new management company said Omni Saigon Hotel, which is now managed by Marco Polo and is located in HCMC’s Phu Nhuan District and near Tan Son Nhat International Airport, will maintain the status quo until June this year. After that, the 250-room hotel will be renamed as The Mövenpick Hotel Saigon.
Meanwhile the Guoman Hotel Hanoi, which has 150 rooms and suites, will be changed to The Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts (MH&R), which is present in 25 countries with over 80 hotels that are either operational or under construction, focuses on its core markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The international hotel group is pressing ahead with its expansion and aiming to extend its portfolio to include 100 hotels by 2010. It has an established presence in the 4- and 5-star hotel segments with two types of accommodation: business and conference hotels and holiday resorts.
By Dinh Dung - The Saigon Times Daily - February 15, 2008.
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