Hotel chain Melia to make Ha Long debut in 2027

Spanish hotel chain Melia Hotels International has signed an agreement to launch a new hotel in Ha Long town, home to the famous Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam.

Melia said that the two-tower property, named Melia Halong Bay, will open in 2027 with 204 rooms and 302 serviced apartments. It said the new property will further Melia’s position as one of the largest international hotel groups in Vietnam.

Melia Halong Bay will be owned by a member company of IDS Equity Holdings (IDS), a Hanoi-based investment company with a hospitality portfolio that stretches across Vietnam.

In its first half performance review, Melia said the Ha Long Bay hotel in Vietnam's northern province of Quang Ninh was part of its Asia Pacific expansion.

The Spanish hotel chain said that Vietnam’s hotel industry was rebounding thanks to an upturn in the South Korean source market, while a recovery of the Chinese source market is expected in the last quarter.

In the first half of this year, Melia hotels in Vietnam recorded an occupancy of 32.7%, up 5.9 percentage points year-on-year; a revenue per available room (RevPAR) of EUR26.4 ($28.9), down 6.4%; and an average room rate of EUR80.6 ($88.1), down 23.4%.

In Vietnam, Melia currently operates 19 hotels, the highest number in the Asia Pacific region, partly thanks to its alliance with Vinpearl for the opening of 15 hotels in 2022.

In its Vietnam operations last year, Melia recorded a pre-tax loss of EUR347,000 ($379,400), compared to a EUR140,000 ($153,086) profit in 2021.

Vietnam welcomed nearly 1.04 million international arrivals in July, the highest monthly figure since the country reopened in March 2022 following a long closure of borders because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figure was up 6.5% from June and three times higher than July last year, but just 79% of the pre-pandemic period in 2019, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In the first seven months of this year, the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam reached 6.6 million, up 5.9 times year-on-year and 83% of the year target.