VIETNAM

Vietnam set for second major opening of 2019

Vietnam is set for its second major debut of 2019, with the $4 billion Hoiana scheduled to open its doors towards the end of the year.

The Hoiana will be the country’s largest and most ambitious project to date. To be built out over phases, the resort will span 985.5 hectares of prime beach-front land in Da Nang, Central Vietnam. It will have 140 tables and more than 300 gaming machines.

The resort will include 1000 hotel rooms in Phase 1, retail space, an 18-hole championship golf course and food and beverage outlets. It will also have serviced apartments with 270 units.

Phase 2, being finalized at the moment, is set to include 100 villas, two hotel brands boasting 2,000 rooms, a commercial village with retail stores and a theme park. A total of 4km of beach line will be part of the project, as well as more than a dozen restaurants.

Macau’s biggest junket operator, Suncity Group, has an equity stake in the project, which it’s developing along with local investment group Vinacapital and Hong Kong-based VMS Investment Group.

“With Hoiana being the first integrated resort we have developed, we have high expectations,” Suncity executive director Andrew Lo told AGB in a March interview. “It is totally different from hotels in Macau, in terms of the target market and operation strategy. The market positioning of Hoiana is a resort destination, [so] the revenue will not only come from the tables, but from other facilities.”

Its location in the tourist hotspot of Hoi An is seen as one of the most promising areas for casino development in the country. The area is well connected to surrounding nations through international flights from Da Nang airport, which is a 50-minute drive from the resort.

It is also close to some of Vietnam’s key tourism attractions. Hoi An, which is famed for its colourful French colonial architecture, was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, while the nearby Cu Lao Cham Biosphere reserve on an island off the coast boasts rich biodiversity.

This year, Da Nang has a target to attract 8.19 million visitors, including 3.19 million foreigners, a year-on-year rise of 6.9 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Industry experts say an existing casino in the area, the Crown International Club, is one of the best-performing in Vietnam. Although low profile, it has proved highly successful in pulling in VIP gamers from China and analysts estimate it may have similar VIP volume to Macau’s integrated resorts.

Hoiana’s ties with Suncity are also seen as a key advantage, guaranteeing access to the junket’s extensive database. Suncity has a 34 percent stake and will also provide management and consultancy services.

Lo said he expects the IR to be 75 percent VIP initially, although planned infrastructure improvements in the area may be conducive to expanding the mass market.

Under Vietnam’s recently revised gaming legislation, developers must invest a minimum of $2 billion in their resorts, with a condition that at least $1 billion must be disbursed.

It has also opened up the possibility of locals gaming for the first time. Two resorts will form part of a three-year pilot scheme, which may be extended if successful.

The first to allow in Vietnamese residents was the Corona Resort on Phu Quoc island in the far south of the country, which opened early this year. The other is in Van Don in the far north and is still under construction.

Hoiana will not be allowed to host locals initially.

Vietnam seeks to boost night economy

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the government to find ways to develop more nighttime activities and increase tourist spend.

Nguyen has pointed to the Beijing model, in which shops and restaurants that are open from 8pm to 6am could receive a subsidy of $70,000 and areas which operate at least 12 hours straight a night get $700,000.

An industry expert, Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of travel agency HanoiRedtours, told VnExpress International that tourists tend to spend more generously on entertainment and shopping at night, and thus a nighttime policy would be beneficial for the company.

“Major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have night markets, but there is demand for more activities. The country needs more restaurants, malls and entertainment areas remaining open after midnight to attract tourists.”

Police bust multi-million gambling ring

Vietnamese authorities have smashed their largest Chinese illegal gambling ring to date, with transactions of about RMB3 billion (US$435 million).

Police raided a residential area in late July and found 20 servers and hundreds of client computers carefully hidden in different rooms in different buildings, likely to be used in the ring’s cross-border gambling, sports betting and lottery betting activities.

According to local media reports, the suspects were aged between 18 and 24 and had come to Vietnam as tourists. The suspects were divided into small groups and took their turns working in shifts.

They were not allowed to go outside and all their activities took place within the urban area.