A Resort in a Province with Two World Heritage Sites

On the occasion of the launch of the National Tourism Year in Quang Nam province, ViB Forum interviewed Jose Arcila, general manager of Palm Garden Resort Hoi An.

 

I am a Canadian-Filipino. My family is in Vancouver, Canada. This is the second year I have lived in Vietnam. I love the life here. In the first year, I lived in Ho Chi Minh City but I moved to Hoi An after I started my business at the Palm Garden Resort. I think this a modern resort, located on a beautiful beach in Central Vietnam. More importantly, it is in a province with two world heritage sites.

 

So far Palm Garden is the only resort in Quang Nam. After ten months since its opening, the resort has become somewhat famous and is attracting more guests. The room occupancy rate is 35 per cent. I think that the figure isn’t yet high but is a satisfactory result considering this is our first year in operation. I hope that in the coming year, the resort’s business activities will improve. Particularly in 2006, the number of visitors to Quang Nam will increase as the province will host the National Tourism Year. In the early days of 2006, Hoi An received many visitors.

 

The resort has around 300 staff members. They are well-trained and diligent. I think that I am very lucky to work with these qualified staff members. This is very important because when you have advantages with world heritage sites and beautiful beaches, your service quality should be high to keep visitors staying for longer. 

 

We highly appreciate the support of the local authorities and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism for the development of Quang Nam tourism. The local tourism service’s facilities have improved. Its staff members are well-trained. The two world heritage sites have been restored and preserved better. In particular, promotion activities have been boosted with the launch of the National Tourism Year in Quang Nam in 2006.

 

For further development, we hope that the Government and local authorities will boost their investment in infrastructure development, accelerating the completion of the building of a highway from Da Nang to Hoi An and further promoting National Tourism Year.