These can be projects for Wafaifo itself, or for third party tourism and lifestyle investors who want to build new hospitality businesses. Or for owners who want to improve existing ones.
The initial project for the partnership is the 134-key Wafaifo Resort Hoi An, which opens 11 October.
The agreement extension was signed in Tam Ky, Quang Nam province, 23 August by Mr Ngo Duc Trung, General Director of Quang Nam Water Drainage Supply Joint Stock Company – the founding partners – and Mr Pieter van der Hoeven, Managing Director of the Quang Nam Wafaifo Hotel Joint Stock Company.
On signing the agreement, Mr Trung said: “The tourism and hospitality sector in Vietnam and Indochina has huge untapped potential. Wafaifo Hospitality offers expert operational and marketing experience to help us realise that potential on behalf of investors, partners, tourists and Vietnamese residents,” he said.
After signing, Mr van der Hoeven, added: “By most metrics, tourism and hospitality in the region has recovered to above 2019 levels. We anticipate continued strong tourism growth – especially as China’s outbound has yet to fully bounce back. Hospitality prospects for the region are very bright,” he said.
According to analysts, total numbers of foreign tourists visiting Vietnam are expected to exceed pre-2019 levels by 5% this year. Foreign and domestic tourism combined contributes about 12% of Vietnam’s total GDP.
Vietnam also eased its tourism visa requirements in 2023. The country’s biggest airport, Long Thanh, 40 kilometres outside of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is scheduled to open in September 2025.
“Across Indochina, physical infrastructure and the regulatory and investment environment is improving all the time,” said Mr van der Hoeven. “It is a good time for investors to realise the potential that tourism and an increasingly affluent middle class resident population can bring to the region,” he said.
The Wafaifo Resort Hoi An is Wafaifo Hospitality’s first project. Apart from its 134 rooms and suites, the new urban lifestyle resort will feature technology-led wellness treatments and a range of food and beverage outlets at its city centre location, a 10-minute walk from Hoi An’s UNESCO heritage area.
The new agreement means that Wafaifo Optimisers will function as the group’s strategic consultancy for third party hospitality development projects in the region.
