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Vietnam's tourism industry is expanding rapidly and the Ho Tram Strip presents an excellent opportunity as the country continues to grow into an ever-increasingly desirable tourist destination. According to Vietnam National Authority for Tourism (VNAT) statistics, the country experienced an overall growth in visitor arrivals of 75% from 2003 to 2008, reaching approximately 4.3 million arrivals in 2008. While international arrivals declined by about 11% to 3.8 million visitors in 2009 due to the global economic crisis, VNAT’s 2010 tourism stimulus programme (which targeted affluent travellers planned on staying in the country for several days) reports an increase of 34.8% for the 12 months ending December, 2010 and a record five million visitors in 2010. It is estimated that Ho Chi Minh City is a key destination for more than 60% of the country’s annual international tourists – around 2.76 million in 2010.
Price Waterhouse Coopers has predicted that China could overtake the US in around 2025 to become the world’s largest economy and will continue to grow to around 130% of the size of the US by 2050. Of visitors to Vietnam, Chinese tourists form the majority, totalling 905,360 in 2010 – almost double that of the second largest group, South Korea.
With the close proximity of Ho Chi Minh City, which acts as a feeder to the popular Vung Tau tourist destinations, ACDL has a very strong potential to attract visitors from this market and the Ho Tram Strip’s five-star range of leisure, hospitality and entertainment offerings will entice many of these tourists and business travellers to not only visit but stay at the property.
Strong international access routes
Ho Chi Minh City’s international airport – the only one in southern Vietnam – receives direct flights from 27 cities originating from 13 countries, including 13 cities in the markets of China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and more than 573 international flights per week. This represents a large potential customer base for the Ho Tram Strip that is largely untapped, as 80% of international visitors to Viet Nam arrive by air (totalling 4,061,712 in 2010), approximately 62% of which are tourists.
The current terminal is equipped to deal with around 15 million passengers per year (around 600 flights per day) but the development of a new international airport is already underway at Long Thanh, around 50 kilometres north-east of Ho Chi Minh City and approximately80 kilometers from the Ho Tram Strip. The new airport will have a capacity of 80 to 100 million passengers per year and has been designed to keep up with the year-on-year increase in business and leisure travellers, expected to reach 82 million by 2020. The new airport will contribute significantly to improving international and domestic transportation links to Vung Tau and the development includes two express multi-lane highways linking the new hub with Ho Chi Minh City, Dau Day, Bien Hoa and Vung Tau.
Vietnam is located at the heart of Asia and is easily accessible from the region’s most highly populated countries. In addition, the 16 countries in close proximity to Vietnam comprise over half of the world’s population, yet less than 5% of the world’s licensed gaming establishments. Even with the tremendous success of Macau and Singapore as regional gaming destinations, the industry is largely underdeveloped when compared to North America and Europe. As the only licensed large-scale gaming establishment in southern Vietnam, the Ho Tram Strip will benefit from prime positioning in the luxury gaming and lodging segment of Asia, made easily accessible due to its close proximity to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest urban area, and Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Ho Tram’s natural beauty – unspoiled beaches, sub tropical forests and tranquil bays – means it is an all-encompassing travel destination with the potential to attract affluent, long-stay visitors. |
