Vietnam casino operator plans expansion, following trend in enhanced local investments

Hoi An South Development Ltd has pledged $1bn to expand Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam Province. The integrated resort opened in 2020.

The president and CEO of Hoi An South Development Ltd last week pledged to invest an additional VND25.4tn (£772m/€928m/$1bn) in the company’s Quang Nam integrated resort (IR), Hoiana Resort & Golf, over the next two years.

In a 17 October meeting with provincial lawmakers, Steven Wolstenholme joined other leaders of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in agreeing to boost their local investments. The goal is to further establish Quang Nam as a tourist destination.

The province is already well-known for its beauty, beaches and cultural attractions. Located 30 kilometres south of Da Nang in central Vietnam, it is the only province in the country that can boast two UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The ancient city of Hoi An is a jewel in the crown. In 2019, Travel+Leisure magazine named it “the best city in the world.” This year, Hoi An ranked fourth on T+L’s list of most-loved cities. It was the only Vietnamese city to make the cut.

Open throughout Covid
Hoiana Resort & Golf, which calls itself “Asia’s leading fully integrated resort,” broke ground in 2016. Phase 1 of development included four five-star hotels, a casino, restaurants and a Robert Trent Jones golf course.

Wolstenholme came aboard as group chief operating officer in 2018. The industry veteran had previously served as chief operating officer at both Galaxy Macau and Okada Manila, and was the former president of Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

By late 2019, Phase 1 of development was nearly complete and Hoiana geared up for a mid-2020 soft opening. Then Vietnam was hit by Covid-19. The company tightened its belt and laid off two-thirds of the workforce. The resort managed to stay open throughout the pandemic. It finally marked its grand opening in 2021.

Substantial investment in Vietnam
As Wolstenholme reminded lawmakers, the beachfront resort already represents an investment of VND101.6tn.

Through August, it welcomed more than half a million visitors, 80% of them foreigners. According to The Investor, revenues added VND1tn to local coffers in 2022-23, and VND396bn in the first half of 2024. That’s 55% of total collections from FIEs in Quang Nam.

Those contributions could increase with a joint Southeast Asian visa initiative known as “Six Countries, One Destination.”

At a 9 October meeting at the ASEAN Summit in Laos, Vietnamese and Thai prime ministers Pham Minh Chinh and Paetongtarn Shinawatra agreed on the plan to increase tourism to the region.

The initiative, if approved, would allow travellers to move freely through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam without multiple visas and permits.

As tourism expert Tu Quy Thanh noted, visitation to Southeast Asia “has not returned to its peak of 2019. Countries need to work together toward a common goal, to develop tourism together.”