HOI AN, Vietnam, 15 December 2022: Wafaifo, a new international hospitality company, will open its first hotel in Vietnam in the World Heritage coastal village of Hoi An in central Vietnam.
The 134-key Wafaifo Resort Hoi An is scheduled to open during Q1 2024 as part of a real estate development that includes a new mall, a hospitality asset management service, and other tourism-related projects.
Based in Hoi An, Wafaifo’s owners intend to offer hospitality project consultancy across Indochina, drawing on the hotel industry expertise of its co-founders, managing director Pieter van der Hoeven and commercial director Mikkel Krantz. Wafaifo deputy managing director Uyen Ngo, who owns various resorts in central Vietnam, supports the project.
“We see a gap in the market for Wafaifo Resort Hoi An to establish itself as a proud and uniquely Vietnamese hospitality experience,” said van der Hoeven. He has held senior executive roles in Raffles, Six Senses, Minor and Peninsula Hotels.
“Wafaifo Resort Hoi An will be our showcase property. It will offer a modern Vietnamese aesthetic and mind-blowing gastronomic and spa experiences for international and domestic travellers,” he explained.
While Vietnam’s tourism performance, like other Asian destinations, is still behind 2019 levels, the emerging trend draws higher-quality tourists. Vietnam National Administration for Tourism reports that while visitors to Vietnam are only 20% of 2019 levels, revenue during 2022 reached VND456.7 trillion (US$19 billion), around 70% of the 2019 financial performance.
Year to date, South Koreans are Vietnam’s main source of tourists, with around 763,900 arrivals, followed by the US at 266,000.
“With the rebound in the travel sector, the timing is right for the launch of Wafaifo as a consolidated tourism concern,” said Krantz. “Our analysis shows that we can expect to see robust tourism and investment growth in Vietnam and the Indochina region over the next five years,” he concluded.
