VietNamNet Bridge – A four-star hotel officially opened in Dalat in Lam Dong Province on Monday, helping to relieve the severe shortage of high-standard facilities in the resort city where there are few three-to-five-star hotels.

A view of the four-star Saigon-Dalat hotel in the Central Highlands city of Dalat.

“With luxury services, we are targeting MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, events), and high-end guests,” said Nguyen Huyen, chairman of the Saigon-Dalat Joint Stock Company as the property owner. The company organized the grand opening for the seven-story hotel on Monday, having launched the hotel’s soft opening in mid-June.

The grand opening on Monday also marked the recognition by the national tourism authority for the 160-room hotel as a four-star property. Currently, there are only ten high-class hotels of three-to five-star ratings to serve high-end users, such as the Sofitel Dalat Palace, the Novotel Dalat, Golf III, and Sammy Dalat.

The Saigon-Dalat Joint Stock Company as the owner has chartered capital of VND130 billion, contributed by HCMC-based shareholders Saigontourist Holding Company, Ben Thanh Corporation, Tan Tao Industrial Park Joint Stock Company, Cho Lon Tourist, and Phu Tho Tourist, and Lam Dong Tourist in Dalat City.

The company has spent around VND200 billion to build the hotel.

Huyen, also deputy general director of Saigontourist Holding Company, said that developing the Saigon-Dalat hotel is part of his company’s strategy to combine with partners to develop standard tourism services in big cities and other localities.

There are now around 70 hotels and resorts across the country under the umbrella of Saigontourist, many of them three-to five-star properties. It will build and upgrade thousands of luxury hotel rooms in the country, especially in HCMC.

Later this year, Saigontourist will also open the four-star hotel Saigon-Con Dao in Con Dao Island off Vung Tau City, and is developing a big tourism project on around 200 hectares on Phu Quoc Island.

The company has reportedly served over 770,000 guests in the first half of this year, and obtained total revenue of over VND3.86 trillion, up 23.7% year-on-year. Saigontourist expects to achieve VND7.23 trillion in revenue in all of 2008.

(Source: SGT)