The reporter of the Vietnam Business Forum had an exchange talk with Mr Phung Xuan Mai, General Director of Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort and Spa, on the company’s business performances and preparations for new opportunities.
Has the global economic crisis cast any impact on Saigon Phu Quoc Resort?
Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort stayed out of the global economic recession because it knew to embrace opportunities and insisted on a creative, sometimes enterprising, business strategy to attract customers, especially Vietnamese tourists, in 2008 and 2009. We tried to satisfy the customers’ demands for inventive tours, restaurant service, travel service, sea sports and other services to create new sources of income.
In 2008, Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort saw the room occupancy rate at 82 %, up 3 % from 2007 and much higher than the average of 65 % on Phu Quoc Island. International visitors accounted for 60 %, of which 92 % were Russians, Germans, Swedish, Americans, Japanese and South Koreans. The profit rose 12 % to the equivalent of 20 % of total revenues and the average income of employees climbed 16 %. With the slogan “doting on the sunny paradise,” Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort saw a room occupancy rate of 85 % in the first eight months of 2009, compared with the four-star facility average of 54 % in Vietnam. International visitor arrivals accounted for 54 %. In 2009, Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort will complete the full-year business targets two months ahead of the schedule.
With its persevering efforts, Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort has honourably been awarded many prizes from the Government, ministries, branches and organisations. Its typical merits include Outstanding SME in HCM City Award, Kien Giang Excellent Business Title, Vietnam Trademark Cup, Golden Trademark Award 2008 and Vietnam Favoured Award 2009. Thus, Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort is nominated for the Vietnam Gold Star Award.
What has Saigon - Phu Quoc prepared to enhance its competitiveness?
With its business results in 2008 and 2009, Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort is expecting a more successful year in 2010 thanks to its accumulation of visitors and infrastructures in the past two years. At the same time, to develop promising products, we have focused on two main activities: marketing and product quality improvement.
With respect to marketing, we mainly focus on e-commerce. Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort’s websites (vietnamphuquoc.com, phuquoc.info and sgphuquocresort.com.vn) are regularly updated and upgraded to enable the access of mobile devices and enhance online payment tools like Hi-tech, One-pay and E-pay. Online revenue accounted for more than 20 % per year.
At present, we are investing more than VND20 billion to upgrade its four-star resort into a five-star facility and increase rooms to 100 from 90. In 2010, an electronic club will be launched. Apart from locally advantageous ecological tours, the company also lunches the “home stay” model to mobilise and direct the people to open private tourist accommodations. Joining people will have more sources of income.
What do you say about performances of Vietnamese tourism companies at present?
Harder difficulty energises the rebound for Vietnamese tourism companies. This is why many travel companies launched many marketing programmes in 2008 and 2009.
However, Vietnamese usually go to the big sea alone. They rarely coordinate with other and receive little supports and consultation from Vietnamese commercial counsellors to know more about business partners. At present, the tourism associations have started to play its role in introducing tourism companies to international exhibitions in Russia, Germany, France, Japan and Australia. So far, Saigon - Phu Quoc Resort has still advertised Phu Quoc as an ideal destination for tourists in more than 10 years. I believe that business associations will create momentum for breakthrough development when they gather separate forces.
Reported by Quang Thuan
Vietnamese
