Monika Dubaj, Vice President of Development, Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Monika Dubaj, Vice President of Development, Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Viet Nam’s tourism sector has seen a boom in recent years but many regions with its pristine beauty still have great potentials to exploit, such as Phu Quoc island. How do you evaluate the potential of these areas?

Viet Nam is indisputably on its way to become a leading tourism destination in the nation and globally. It is a fact that over the last decade, Viet Nam tourism arrivals have grown from four million to 17 million, which is a huge successful story. I really believe that this is an impressive start of a long promising journey. Viet Nam in generally and Phu Quoc in particular, have rich cultural and historical heritages as well as beautiful natural sceneries.

I believe that Phu Quoc is destined to become a leading resort destination in the region, similar to Bali and Koh Samui. The island is positioned at the cross road of several key markets, including the North Asia Market such as Japan, South Korea. It is also proximate to Singapore, Hong Kong. The investment in infrastructure of the island has also been promoted, the upgraded roads and airport makes it easier to access these key resorts.

Why did you decide to choose Phu Quoc as a destination for your tourism development path in Viet Nam?

We chose Phu Quoc for three reasons.

Firstly, Phu Quoc is a beautiful island which is quickly establishing itself as a leading resort destination in Southeast Asia. The natural environment of the island, the year-round climate as well as its proximity to the key markets are really outstanding ingredients for the success of the island as the tourism destination.

Secondly, the spectacular and rare piece of land is a truly exceptional site. Our resort will be developed along 160 acres of pristine land, bordered on one side by 1.7 kilometres of natural beach, and the other side is embraced by a large green hillside. It is a picture - perfect land site to resort developers and we are honoured and privileged to have the opportunity to make it the first branded residences managed by Park Hyatt in South East Asia region, and soon going to join the limited collection of Park Hyatt Residences in the world.

Lastly, our partner is BIM Land. They have a reputation as a leading luxury resort and real estate developer in Vietnam. It is really a privilege to partner with them.

In your oppion, what are the unique features of Park Hyatt Phu Quoc compared to other resorts in the South East Asia and Phu Quoc?

The site is extremely unique and rare. The facilities what we are developing comprise of 110 hotel rooms that all face the ocean, and 65 very unique beachfront and hillside villas which will all offer a magnificent sunset view overlooking the ocean. The facilities themselves are very unique and will have a lakeside spa, signature restaurants, a sunset bar, a Camp Hyatt Kids club, two swimming pools of over 400 square metres, meeting facilities and an organic farm.

Although Viet Nam welcomes a large number of tourists every year, the proportion of high-class customers remains still small? Why is this? What are the measures to improve the quality standards of infrastructure and services to attract this customer segment?

It is quite a nature psycho for an emerging tourism destination to focus strongly on the number of visitors at the first stage. But as the destination begins to mature and develop, there should be a shift to focus more on the quality, besides quantity. I believe that through the initiatives and investment of large and prestige developers, such as BIM Group, there is a potential to effectively and successfully target that high-class customer segment. Without a doubt, Viet Nam has all the potential attributes to become a high-end luxury destination.