8.3.2019 TTG Show Daily ITB Berlin 21
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Overturning perceptions of Nha Trang
This coastal city in southern Vietnam, once favoured as a charter destination, is now keen to attract Europeans
By Yixin Ng
Nha Trang may be on the cusp of change
as international flights arrive at the new
Cam Ranh airport and Vietnam grows
in popularity among Western Europeans,
but the coastal city remains bogged down
by negative perceptions within the travel
trade.
Before the airport opened, the destina-
tion was traditionally reliant on Chinese
and Russian groups arriving on charter
flights. Now, some resorts are turning
their attention to new international mar-
kets.
For example, Ingo Rauber, general
manager at Sunrise Nha Trang Beach
Hotel & Spa decided to move the resort’s
focus away from Russian and Chinese
groups “because we didn’t see the revenue
coming in for incidentals for hotels”, and
are targeting Western European markets
instead.
Since the resort changed its marketing,
business from its two traditional feeders
went down 50 per cent, while Western
European guest volume grew by about 25
per cent.
With the opening of Cam Ranh in-
ternational airport last year, travellers no
longer have to go through Hanoi or Ho
Chi Minh City to arrive in Nha Trang.
ally like three- or four-star, “small, local”
“However we are still missing western resorts, which are lacking in Nha Trang,
European tourists because flights coming Wiegand pointed out.
in are mostly through Bangkok, and trav-
“I’m not too fond of Nha Trang as it
ellers arriving in Bangkok in the morning can be quite crowded and there are too
will miss the day’s connection to Cam many hotels,” said Moreten Westergaard,
Ranh. Leaving Nha Trang you
sales and production manager at
need to wait six to seven hours at
Voya Travel in Denmark, which
the airport in Bangkok to catch
is adding Asian beach destina-
the flight back home. That’s the
tions to its Indian Ocean and
biggest problem right now,” said
Latin America core.
Rauber.
While some industry play-
Moreover, Nha Trang remains
ers liken Nha Trang to Phuket,
encumbered by its reputation
trade buyers maintained that the
within the travel trade and a per- Schretlen: Dutch
Vietnamese beach city still lags
ceived lack of suitable hotels for interest growing
behind its Thai counterpart.
the Europeans.
Thailand beaches remain top choice
“Nha Trang is still not yet popular with for beach extensions in Indochina round-
the western European market… It might trips, said Alberto Maffizzoli from Tui
be because of the reputation among tour Italia’s planning department, with Phuket
operators, not so much consumers. There most popular for the winter season and
are two disadvantages: first of all, while Samui for the summer season.
Cam Ranh is changing, in Nha Trang
In comparison, Vietnam is known just
most hotels don’t have direct beach ac- “a little bit” for its beaches. “In Vietnam,
cess. There are some on islands off the Phu Quoc is (the top choice). I’ve been
coast, but guests in many hotels have to trying to develop Nha Trang, but at the
cross the street to get to the beach,” said moment it remains a new destination as it
Frank Wiegand, director of team sales Eu- is not known on the market yet,” Maffiz-
rope, Focus Asia.
zoli said. “Everyone wants to go where
Additionally, German travellers usu- everybody else is going.”
Similarly, Westergaard prefers beaches
in Thailand for the availability of quieter,
more “barefoot luxury” resort options,
citing the example of the 9 Hornbills
Tented Camp and Koyao Island Resort in
Koh Yao Noi, near Phuket.
There are, however glimmers of hope
for Nha Trang.
“I see an enormous increase in interest
for Vietnam, and there’s always a beach
extension in itineraries. We are around
125,000 Dutch going to Vietnam last year.
Three years ago it was 65,000,” said Frank
Schretlen, sales director, the Netherlands,
Vietnamtourism – Hanoi JSC.
He added: “People have been to Thai-
land and they want something else of
South-east Asia”.
While some buyers point out that Rus-
sian and Chinese groups have made the
beach less appealing to travellers from
other markets, Schretlen pointed out that
there are spaces in Nha Trang that are
more popular with Europeans.
Wiegand added: “It’s a pity that Nha
Trang is such a hard sell in Europe. Per-
sonally, it is a really nice place. If I go to
the beach I still prefer to have restaurants
and bars, and Nha Trang is the only city
beach in Vietnam.”
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