Vietnam's biggest tourism corporation Saigontourist has set out an ambitious target to have around 2,000 more high-end hotel rooms in the next five years, bringing to at least 6,000 five-star rooms by 2012, the company's top leader said.
The move is aimed to increase the number of high-standard rooms by 50 per cent within the next five years, the leader said at the ground-breaking ceremony last Saturday to upgrade the four-star Grand Hotel in downtown HCM City into a five-star facility.
Saigontourist will build and upgrade a number of hotels in HCM City, Hanoi and some other places of interest around the country, Nguyen Huu Tho, general director of Saigontourist Holding Company, said.
The Grand Hotel on Dong Khoi Street is being upgraded at a cost of VND328 billion (US$20 million), and upon completion in 2009. The facility will have 173 new rooms plus 63 upgraded rooms.
Several four-star hotels in the list to get facelift in the immediate future include the Majestic, Kim Do, and Continental hotels, which will also be turned into five-star hotels, he added.
It is currently also expanding the Rex Hotel adjacent to the City Hall, and building the HCM City Exhibition and Convention Center in Saigon South.
“With the new and expansion projects we will have 1,000 more new luxury rooms in 2009 to serve the growing demand of guests,” he noted.
Saigontourist is now managing many hotels and resorts across the country. The company also acts as the local partner in many other big hotel projects such as the Caravelle, the Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, and the New World Saigon.
Last year, the company served around 1.5 million tourists, up 1.6 per cent on the previous year, and obtained total revenue of nearly VND5.2 trillion US$325 million), up 13 per cent year-on-year. (Youth, Labor, VietNamNet)
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