Vietnam’s premier resort casino is looking to overcome its struggles in a foreigners-only market by expanding its offering with luxury vacation homes.
This week’s debut of a Greg Norman-designed golf course at The Grand Ho Tram was accompanied by an announcement from American hedge fund tycoon Phil Falcone, the US$500 million resort’s majority owner, that high-end villas and condominiums will be developed as part of a planned second hotel tower.
Mr Falcone’s Harbinger Capital recently plowed an additional $50 million into The Grand, which opened last July on two kilometers of scenic beachfront on the South China Sea with a blueprint for adding more hotel rooms to its existing five-star complement of 541, which are reported to enjoy solid weekend bookings, and also more non-gaming attractions.
The property’s 90 table games and 600-plus machine games haven’t fared as well, mainly because they’re off limits to Vietnamese citizens by law—the country’s six casinos are open only to foreign passport holders—and the roads from metropolitan Ho Chi Minh City, about 90 kilometers distant, are less than ideal, though they are improving.
In this light, opening a residential market to domestic and international investors could prove a valuable income stream.
As Mr Falcone put it, “This is a chance for everyone to own a piece of the Ho Tram Strip.”
Stephen Shoemaker, the new chairman and CEO of The Grand’s owner, Asian Coast Development (Canada), said details on the expansion would be announced soon.
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