Northstar

DESTINATION | VIETNAM 34 JAN-FEB 2018 meetings & conventions • mcmag-asia.com Tourist arrivals, both business and leisure, reflect these advances and MICE is becoming a backbone for both Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. The country racked up almost 13 million arrivals in 2017, showing an impressive increase of 29.1% year-on-year. Four million mainland Chinese visitors streamed in, followed by almost 2.5 million South Koreans. Then Japan arrivals counted 798,119, Taiwan at 616,232, America just over 614,000 and Russia at 574,164. Words Catharine Nicol WHY GO? Vietnam is booming. Its main attractions have always been heritage, culture and cuisine, and now advances in infrastructure and accessibility are contributing to a rise in domestic and international hospitality brands and innovative activities and incentives. Vietnam revs up 70% of the metropolis' metro line now completed and the launch of the public river bus. Simplified visa procedures for many nationalities take effect in 2018, while VietJet has spearheaded a useful increase in domestic and international routes into the city. "Vietnam has the right combination of tourist assets, cultural endowments, vibrant and liberal art scene, colourful heritage, long- and short-haul connections and the political and economic desire to join its Southeast Asian neighbours on the international stage," says Marion Klein, director sales and marketing, Sheraton Saigon. She believes the city can position itself as an attractive MICE alternative to Bangkok. "Ho Chi Minh City will become the next hotspot of the global MICE industry." At The Reverie Saigon, general manager Kai Speth is also bullish about 2018. "With the recent fears of travel to Europe and even the USA, I believe regional travel will only increase. And with China driving regional growth, I expect this will rub off on all economies in its proximity." Ho Chi Minh City makes the right moves "2017 will be a record year for Vietnamese tourism," says Hung Lam, chief information officer and SVP operational development at The Grand Ho Tram Strip. He's right, with 6.38 million of the country's visitors flying into Ho Chi Minh City, an increase of 22.8% on 2016. Vietnam Tourism expects the number to rise to 7.5 million in 2018. "2017 has been a good year for all city hotels in Saigon in terms of occupancy growth, year-on-year," says Michael Robinson, General Manager, Caravelle Saigon. "On average we have seen an increase in occupancy of 30% compared to 2016." Caravelle Saigon's Tapas Kitchen "We were taken a little bit by surprise by the level of interest and demand from regional MICE markets, namely Thailand, Malaysia, China, Korea and Japan ." – KAI SPETH, GENERAL MANAGER, THE REVERIE SAIGON "Vietnam is still an emerging market, but in the last three years it has changed dramatically, and for the better," says Max Federbush, managing partner of Dynasty Investments, who are behind the upcoming Club Med Ho Tram. "We have seen the government improving laws and the ease of doing business. The hospitality sector has so much potential, what needs to keep pace is infrastructure." Infrastructure is improving, with over

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