Tour company to list on Hanoi exchange

The Hanoi Stock Exchange has given the green light to Ocean Hospitality
and Service Joint Stock Company to list 100 million shares.

The shares, which will be listed under the code OCH, will debut on October 1, 2010.

"The share listing will enhance our financial capacity to implement
large-scale real estate projects nationwide," said the company's general
director Ta Thanh Thuy.

"Many foreign and domestic
investors have shown their interest in investing in our company. We are
on the way to choose suitable strategic partners," Thuy said.

Top priority will be given to investors with strong financial capacity
and rich management experience in the hotel and tourism industry, she
added.

The company, a subsidiary of Ocean Group, has
a charter capital of 1 trillion VND (52.6 million USD). Its business
interests include hospitality, hotels, restaurants, real estate,
infrastructure, housing and food processing.

The
company has co-operated with leading global design and hospitality
management groups in constructing 4-5 star hotels under the StarCity
trademark. Among these are the StarCity Westlake Hanoi, Novotel StarCity
Hoi An Resort, StarCity Nha Trang Hotel, StarCity Nha Trang Hotel,
StarCity Sai Gon Hotel and StarCity Airport Hotel.

Novotel StarCity Hoi An Resort and StarCity Sai Gon Hotel are scheduled to open this year.

The group posted a pre-tax profit of 86.7 billion VND (4.6 million
USD) in the first half of this year and is targeting a pre-tax profit of
163 billion VND (8.6 million USD) by the year-end.

In response to the huge potential of the real estate and tourism sectors
the company plans to continue pumping investment in these key areas,
Thuy said./.

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Renovated Mövenpick hotel reopens in Saigon

The Mövenpick Hotel Saigon has reopened after a five-month hiatus during which it went a US$15 million overhaul.

The hotel’s Board of Directors held a press conference at the hotel on Nguyen Van Troi Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District on Thursday, September 16, to mark the reopening.

Knuth Kiefer, General Manager of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Vietnam, told the conference that they had soft-opened the hotel on August 1^st.

He said that the renovation covered all areas of the hotel and resulted in a complete transformation of its appearance.

“It was important for us and our owner companies to ensure that the hotel will not only become a leading hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, - but also unique.”

According to Knuth Kiefer, new space allocations and the creation of new restaurant concepts has resulted in a hotel unique not just in appearance, but also in the products and services it has to offer.

 “In the 5 months leading up to the opening of the hotel, we organized over 160 training classes for our employees in order to meet the expectations of our customers and to be in line with the modern new look of the hotel,” Knuth Kiefer said.

Andreas Mattmüller, Chief Operating Officer for all Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in the Middle East & Asia, said they aim to expand business in Vietnam by building resorts in at least five key spots, including Nha Trang, Da Lat and Hoi An.

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Mövenpick re-opens Saigon hotel, looks for more projects

HCMC – Swiss hotel group Mövenpick on Thursday celebrated the grand re-opening of the property under its management in HCMC following a US$15-million renovation, and unveiled its concentration on more projects in this potential market.

“We’re looking to manage at least two more hotel projects in Vietnam and will give our top priority to a seaside resort,” Andreas Mattmüller, chief operating officer of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts in the Middle East and Asia.

Mattmüller shared the group’s aim for the Vietnamese market after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of its Mövenpick Hotel Saigon on Nguyen Van Troi Street in HCMC’s Phu Nhuan District.

Mattmüller said Mövenpick had contacted some hotel project developers in Vietnam and would announce the result in the near future.

Mövenpick is eyeing Nha Trang, Danang, Hue and Hoi An in central Vietnam and the resort city of Dalat in the Central Highlands region as part of the group’s plan to expand its presence out of HCMC and Hanoi, Mattmüller told a press conference before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

With the re-opening of its hotel in HCMC after five months of renovation, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts now manages two operational upscale hotels for both business and leisure travelers in Vietnam.

The Mövenpick Hotel Saigon has been redesigned in style with a new lobby design taking shape around four incandescent, central pillars and a home for business travelers. Twenty-seven new rooms bring the hotel’s total number to 278 in Superior, Deluxe, Premium, Family and Executive Club categories.

“HCMC is the second fast growing city in the developing world, and that means business men and women are arriving here in droves, pretty much 24/7,” said Knuth Kiefer, general manager in Vietnam for Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts.

“With these upgrades, we have kept pace in terms of amenity and technology while providing business and leisure travelers a respite from city life that is at once hip, serene and accommodating,” he added.

The new Mövenpick Hotel Saigon has restaurants serving international foods, especially Japanese and Chinese specialties as well as a wide selection of drinks. “Our restaurants, bars and lounges will all draw from one of the largest wine lists in Vietnam – more than 300 labels,” Kiefer said.

A Wellness Studio at the luxury hotel offers privacy and individual treatments over sheer expanse, ubiquitous mirrors and televisions.

In addition to new facilities, Kiefer said the Mövenpick Hotel Saigon was a good hotel for those who take early and late flights as the property is five minutes from Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Kiefer presided over the 2008 renovation of Mövenpick’s sister property, the Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi that features a similar blend of the modern and traditional of East and West.

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First Ibis hotel gets off ground in Saigon South

HCMC - Viethan Hotel Joint Stock Co., which was founded by B.B. Dai Minh Corp., on Wednesday started work on its hotel project in HCMC’s Saigon South which will be the first hotel in Vietnam bearing the three-star brand Ibis of the European hotel management group Accor.

“The Ibis Saigon South will be open in about 20 months’ time,” Jin Lee, general director of Viethan Hotel, told the ground-breaking ceremony. The property in the new township Phu My Hung in District 7 will have 160 rooms as well as café, restaurant, gym and conference facilities.

“We believe the first Ibis will bring the new international standard of business hotel into the Vietnamese market,” Lee said. He added that building a hotel marked operation expansion of B.B. Dai Minh Corp., which has accomplished a number of property developments in Vietnam including an industrial park and a couple of office buildings in Phu My Hung.

The Ibis hotel costs around US$11 million, US$6.8 million of it lent by Bao Viet Bank as part of a credit agreement that Lee signed with Nguyen Duy Minh, deputy director of Bao Viet Bank’s Saigon branch, at the event.

“With our experience together with continuous support from our partners, contractors and especially Bao Viet Bank…, we are very confident that we will successfully complete building this Ibis hotel on time,” Lee said.

Zina Seceragic, regional human resources director of Accor for Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, told the Daily that the first Ibis hotel would be followed by more managed by Accor in Vietnam in the future.

This group currently operates 14 hotels with almost 2,300 rooms in cities across the country, including the Sofitel Saigon Plaza. Other hotel brands under its management include MGallery Collection, Novotel and Mercure.

Accor is now the largest international hotel management company in Vietnam. The group became the first international hotel operator to open a permanent office in Vietnam when it established a representative office in HCMC in March 2008.

“Accor is committed to Vietnam and will make it our main objective to remain the largest international hotel operator in Vietnam,” Seceragic said. She added that the Ibis Saigon South would not only strengthen the group’s presence in this market but also attract more travelers to HCMC who were looking for international-standard hotels.

Lee of Viethan said business travelers were in the list of target guests for the Ibis Saigon South that is close to the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center. He noted Viethan believed there was more demand for international three-star hotels in HCMC than those properties of four to five-star ratings.

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