Businesswoman Phung Kim Vy: “Wide River Meets Vast Sea”

Despite being set up not long ago, The Cliff Resort & Residences has quickly asserted its position as a leading high-class resort in Phan Thiet - Mui Ne. The success of The Cliff Resort & Residences is largely attributed to the leadership of Board Chairwoman Phung Kim Vy - an experienced investor and builder of ecological tourist attractions and resorts. Previously when she was the Vice Chairwoman of Seahorse Resort & Spa - Mui Ne, she played an important role in making a well-liked four-star tourist site in Mui Ne. She said, "After Seahorse Resort & Spa, The Cliff Resort & Residences is a further step from innovative and modern design idea to professional management”. Kien Thuy reports.

Doc Da - Phu Hai Company is a tourism and resort company set up in August 2012. The Cliff Resort is a world-class resort in Phan Thiet - Mui Ne. The Cliff Resort is staffed by an experienced workforce. I am now the chairwoman of The Cliff, but I was previously the vice chairwoman of Seahorse Resort, one of well-known resorts in Phan Thiet. The resort is co-managed by Ms Nguyen Thi Le Hoa, the owner of the well-established and well-known Hoang Yen restaurant chain in Ho Chi Minh City. After nearly nine months of operation, The Cliff has left many good impressions on domestic and international tourists.

 

The key motivation that creates the success of The Cliff is our passion for resort tourism. Indeed, when you do anything, you must have a passion strong enough to sacrifice, intense enough to devote and brave enough to confront risks and dangers. As for our living and work philosophy with staff, we apply the 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell, one of top-notch managers in the world: “The manager always has to turn 360 degrees and be ready for employees to contribute ideas.” We listen to and accept our shortcomings and boldly fix them. This is good to us, our business and our staff.

 

I was officially engaged in the tourism industry in 1986 when I set up Saigon - Canada Travel Company in North America. I brought many travellers to Vietnam. When I worked in the tourism industry, I could go to many different places, learn a lot of things and visit countries with developed tourism industries like Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong. I began to recognise that Vietnam's tourism developed too slowly and lagged behind other countries in the region. I aspired to do something to wake up our country's tourism potential.

 

In 2004, I invested in Seahorse Resort in Phan Thiet. Since then, I am no longer a seller of tourism products, but have become a provider of tourism products to sell in Europe and Northern Europe. With a 3,000 km coastline and 2,000 islands, Vietnam has endless resources for marine economic development. Not only seeing the most beautiful beach in Vietnam, I also visited the Australian coast, coastal highways in California and South Coast Highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco (USA). These exciting trips inspired me to build seaside houses and sunny, windy beachside resorts. Without doubt, without human interventions, seaside houses would have had nothing but white sand and wild wind and local people would have done nothing but gone fishing. They would have struggled with poverty and starvation. Only tourism development can change the face of the coastal region, improving local quality of life and generating a big source of income for the State Budget. Thus, I believed that tourism investment was the best option.

 

After Seahorse Resort, I embarked on The Cliff Resort & Residences. The Cliff is a further step from innovative and modern design idea to professional management. Our market segment is high-class customers. Based on our experience here, we are confident in our products.

 

With my experience in the high-end resort business, I understand and share many experiences and feelings with secondary investors when they invest and reside in a coastal accommodation. What The Cliff Resort & Residences brings to visitors as its slogan "Life before the sea" is a friendly resort for families, a place where people feel warm, close and familiar as if they are under their own roof. Not only focusing on product quality improvement, we also look to create unique products, from the smallest things like the scent of the spa, food decoration to caring services for couples in love. We always try our best to meet every need of our visitors.

 

In the 2013 - 2015 period, we will continue to boost the popularity of The Cliff brand name among domestic and foreign tourists and make The Cliff a really ideal and classy destination.

 

With pristine beaches and many beautiful landscapes, Phan Thiet - Mui Ne is truly a sea city in Vietnam. This explains why the tourism industry is growing steadily despite economic volatility. In the future, I am convinced that Phan Thiet will further develop and will be known as the other Hawaii on the planet.

 

With that vision, The Cliff, situated in Phan Thiet - Mui Ne, will have the opportunity to assert its position in the capital of resorts in Vietnam. And, we are determined to effectively utilise every opportunity. Both resorts are invested with passion and enthusiasm, and, I want to underline investments for personnel and business strategy. Both have common and particular ways to go. They both belong to tourism industry and serve tourists. They are different because each of them has to find its own way to become a known and particular entity. You have known investment efficiency in Sea Horse, and you will see it in The Cliff.

 

My philosophy is “living and working at my best”. I always look at three-year short-term objectives and five-year long-term objectives. What I have today is not of great number, but it makes my life vividly colourful. I have sensed every feeling like gladness, anger, fondness and shyness, and experienced ups and downs of my life. I am confident enough to confront any hardship, sharp enough to know people, quick enough to live through uncertainties. I feel lucky to have experiences that not all people have. When I returned to Vietnam, I was an overseas Vietnamese with economic activities in Vietnam. I met many difficulties in my business here at first. However, with the support from authorities, my family and my friends, I have made certain achievements.

 

In 1990, I was a founding member of the Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City. Then, I was the deputy chairwoman of Overseas Vietnamese Business Club in Ho Chi Minh City and I am now the deputy chairwoman of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese. With such environments, I have been acquainted with many overseas Vietnamese and worked with them to contribute ideas concerning investment, remittance and tourism policies during the 1990s.

Like me, most overseas Vietnamese want to return homeland and share efforts to develop our country's economy. I was fortunate to be one of the first to return to the country and to make effective investments. According to online newspaper VnEconomy, after 12 years, the amount of inward remittances increased 8 times and now reaches US$10 billion. Viet Kieu, who number in the millions, are a huge long-term resource for Vietnam.

 

I bear in mind Mother Teresa’s message “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” For me, small works are important, like setting up a scholarship fund for the children of The Cliff staff and a library of management and human development books I chose myself. I also cooperated with Tourism Faculty of Phan Thiet University to send our excellent managers to training to provide the best knowledge for young generations in Binh Thuan province. It is clear that there are many holes and dents in society, and relations between authorities and policies and individuals and community. I myself want to stand in such dented places and want to give my modest contribution. My contribution to society is not limited to materials but also includes time, ideas and methods which naturally have certain value in essence. I do not want my company to be framed within four walls, but I want it to reach society with specific works which are not aimed at polishing the name and image, but carry certain significance to human and society.