Six Senses Resorts and Spas has entered into an agreement with Ninh Van Bay Travel Real Estate Joint Stock Company for the management of two new luxury resorts in Vietnam.

Six Senses Latitude Saigon River, which is located in Dong Nai Province, is scheduled to commence operations by the second quarter of 2011 while Six Senses Latitude Phu Quoc, located in Kien Gang Province, is envisaged to open in 2012.

Currently, Six Senses manages the Six Senses Hideaway Ninh Van Bay in Nha Trang, which is owned by Ninh Van Bay. (hvs.com)

For many years, the central coast city of Nha Trang has been known as a favorite destination for vacations thanks to its natural picturesque landscapes, beautiful beaches and warm weather. Most properties in the resort city are built as hotels to cater to the accommodation demand of international and local travelers. However, the city has witnessed more residential property projects making it more than just a venue just for short holidays but a place for residence and even property investment.According to the property market research company Savills Vietnam, there were 12 apartment projects with more than 1,500 units in Nha Trang as of November. The number of land plot projects remains at six with 1,000 plots and there are four villa/townhouse projects with a total of 250 villas and townhouses. Most of the apartment units are located in the city center while the villa/townhouse and land plot sectors are mainly concentrated in Vinh Nguyen and Vinh Hoa wards.

Savills says the land plot sector is enjoying the highest primary price in Nha Trang’s residential market at an average of US$710 per square meter while the primary price of apartments and villas/townhouses is recorded at US$595 and US$620 per square meter respectively. It may be explained that all land plot projects in the primary market are well located with a great view to the sea.

The seaside project An Vien Town was introduced at the property exhibition and conference called Propex Vietnam 2009 held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in HCMC’s District 7 ten days ago. The property project stretches two kilometers along the coast at the end of Tran Phu Street, some five minutes drive from the city center. It covers a 71-hectare site, in which 18 hectares are in the sea. It is designed with 568 land plots for villas and a wharf to serve private yachts of potential property owners. Infrastructure has been completed to make it ready for transaction and all land plots are licensed with permanent ownership certificates, according to the project owner.

The market research company says there is real demand for ready-built houses in Nha Trang, where residents seem to have a preference to live near the sea. Due to the limited land area close to the sea, many apartment buildings have been developed in the city in the last few years to meet demand. Some individual investors may buy land plots in a good location and build their own villas and then lease them to expatriates. With tourism strength, Nha Trang is a popular destination for foreign visitors. Many foreigners live in Nha Trang and consider this area as their second home.

Savills reports that 31 residential projects may come online in the next few years, and due to the limitation of land in the city center, the potential projects are now moving north, south and west. Large projects are expected to be developed in Vinh Thai and Phuoc Hai wards to the west of the city, which are expected to account for more than 60% of Nha Trang’s future development area.

Life

Resorts, a group that specialises in operating resort

complexes, has announced the two new resort projects

.

In details, Life Resort Da Nang will be opened in early March 2010 and Life Heritage Resort Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province of July 2010.

However, the project of Life Wellness Resort Ninh Binh has been cancelled because of the economic crisis. Chris Duffy, Life Resorts Group’s general director announced about kicking off the two new projects mentioned above in the coming year at Vasta Restaurant, Dist 1, and HCM City last Thursday.

At present, Life Resorts Group has built and managed three resorts of Life Heritage Resort Hoi An, Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon and Blue Ocean Resort Phan Thiet.

The gust of cool wind that whispers softly through the pines greet people who come to the remote Mang Den in Kontum Province, making them feel they are in the renowned resort city of Dalat to the south in Lam Dong Province.Many people call Mang Den the second Dalat in the Central Highlands region because this little-known area also has pine-covered hills and mountains, a cool climate, lakes, rivers and waterfalls.

They have a sound reason to make such a comparison when talking about Mang Den, which is more than 50 kilometers northeast of Kontum City. However, Mang Den and Dalat also have many differences.

It is no doubt that Dalat has been famous for decades and has earned much reputation from its attractions and the major annual tourist events, including the Festival of Flowers which happens early next year and expects a large number of visitors, including international visitors.

Dalat is not as quiet as it used to be in the good old days because many new villas and hotels have been up and running in recent years to cater to the demand of many tourists who are coming from near and far for relaxation, golf, mountain climbing and business. Certainly, Dalat is now a thriving city.

On the contrary, Mang Den has just been known to tourists for very few years. Central tourism authorities have revealed its charms and announced Mang Den as a new destination for travelers. Travel companies and individuals have come in to build villas in anticipation of a tourism boom in the area.

Here and there in the area of Kon Plong District, several villas have been put into service and tens of new villas are being constructed by the sides of hills, under the shade of pine trees and along the main road, which lies between Mang Den Pass in the south and Biolac Pass in the north.

Situated between the passes, Mang Den is not easy to reach as approach roads are not as good as those leading to Dalat, but this is a safe place to live and holiday. It goes without saying that Mang Den offers a haven of peace and serenity away from the bustle of the city.

There’s more for visitors to explore in the virgin charms of the area.

Mang Den is still a remote area but worth visiting for a weekend vacation. Here, visitors can open their eyes wide to view and feel the beauty of nature, inhale fresh air, trek in the forest and up the hills and mountains, and chat with the hospitable locals.

Mang Den can be reached by motorcycle and car. If you are not sure how to drive a car or ride a motorcycle there, do not hesitate to ask a taxi motorcycle driver or the people you happen to meet in Kontum City for the way to the haven of peace and serenity.

“Vietnam – a favourite destination” was what Vietnamese travel agents highlighted at a meeting with French partners in Paris on December 14, offering a number of discount tours and new products.

The Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Nguyen Manh Cuong, presented a programme of action themed “Impressive Vietnam” launched by the State to help the non-smoke industry rebound.

The move focuses on administrative reforms such as visa pick-up at border-gates for tourists and visa exemption for overseas Vietnamese, said the senior travel official.

He also cited intensive investments in infrastructural facilities, improvement of service quality and product diversification.

The hospitality industry is struggling against the impact of the global economic meltdown, decreasing number of foreign arrivals by 12.3 percent year-on-year to 3.4 million so far this year.

French tourists, who ranked seventh in the number of foreign arrivals, were reduced by 3.7 percent year-on-year to almost 160,000 in the months to December.

Cuong, however, expressed optimism over the French market, the top-ten market in terms of visitors to Vietnam , citing numerous accords of cooperation as a springboard.

Vietnam and France reached an agreement in tourism in 1996. In 2005, a protocol between the VNAT and the French Department of Tourism was signed and most recently in last September a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on implementing the above-mentioned protocol was inked.

The MOU covers the exchange of information, assistance in personnel training and promotion campaigns for investment-tourism which call for favourable conditions for travel agents between the two countries to meet and discuss opportunities of investment.

Vietnamese Ambassador Le Kinh Tai highlighted major events next year such as the Hue Festival in June, the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary in October, and the French Week in Vietnam in November as attractions for foreign tourists, especially from France.

(vietnamplus)

Lao Cai province people’s committee decided on December 14 to halt performance of the four sluggish projects in the northeast of Sapa Dist.

These are the two investment projects of complexes of hotels, restaurant and recreation areas; a 100-hectare golf course projects with Saigon Tourism Corp as the main investor, and the resort complex project located in the northeast of Sapa Town, with Sapa PetroVietnam Insurance JSC as the main investor.

Previously, the local authority had issued official documents to halt performance of 33 investment projects, and to allow 16 projects to extend their investment progress until December 31, 2009, and the other six projects to continue being carried out. The main reasons for stop carrying out the projects were because the investors failed to conduct the research works and prepare for the application profile in order to submit to the functional authorities for approval in time. As for the extended projects, if the investors cannot submit the projects’ profiles to the local Department of Planning and Investment before December 31, 2009 to apply for investment certificate, the projects will become invalid.

Pham Van Cuong, vice chair of Lao Cai province people’s committee stated that in the near future, the local authority would continue check the implementation progress of those projects that have already received investment licences. If the investors fail to prove their capacity to carry out the projects as committed, the local authority will revoke the certificates in accordance with the state laws.

Vietnam’s deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai has inaugurated the passenger terminal of Cam Ranh Airport in the country’s south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa. The terminal, built at a cost of over US$10.9 million, has a total floor area of 14,000m2 and is able to handle 800 passengers per hour.

Under the Transport Development Master Plan to 2020 with vision for 2030, which has been approved by the government, Cam Ranh Airport will handle domestic and international flights and accommodate Boeing 777s. It will be upgraded to serve 5.5 million passengers a year by 2020, and eight million by 2030.

After the inauguration a Silk Airlines aircraft touched down, becoming the first international airline landing at the airport. (passengerterminaltoday.com)

Trung Thuy Joint Stock Co will begin work on a four-star resort in Xuyen Loc District in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau next year.

The US$52.6 project will have 300 rooms and 350 villas for lease, and the projects’ first phase is expected to be completed in 2011, according to Duong Thanh Thuy, the company’s CEO.

That’s all very well for the more cashed up members of society and travelling community but the locals that once swam freely would be doing well to afford to join in the fun. The developers would argue that the hotels and resorts will provide employment with better earnings for the local population, though not everyone wants to or can make that kind of transition.

Fishermen will sail elsewhere as beaches accommodate the guests of the luxury hotels and golf courses. The developers will fence off the beach fronts so privileged guests are undisturbed. Local swimmers will have to drive further up the coast to find a spot to dump their bucket and spade.

For the time being you can flop around the beach at Non Nuoc or Cua Dai but for how much longer? Local authorities eager for tourism dollars continue to lease the beaches out to hotel developers. Hotel groups such as Hyatt, Raffles and InterContinental all have designs on this part of the country.

In Danang, at least, the authorities decided to buck the trend and earmarked a modest stretch in My Khe beach for public swimming. On Son Tra peninsula, the former military zone, nearly got swept away by the wave of tourism. The Danang authorities decided to reserve a small piece of this small paradise for public bathing and announced it would reclaim three hectares of Bai Nam and Bai Con for public use.

The only problem is that they already signed off this beach to a developer, which is still planning to build 198 villas and a hotel. The company is refusing to back off, claiming they have mortgaged the land to a bank to take out a loan for the construction of the resort. The matter is unresolved.

It is odd, however, that the authorities looked to stop a project that was already under construction while just a few hundred metres away, another resort project has sat idly for years with just a few half-completed villas.