Vietnam’s The Grand Ho Tram broke ground Thursday on a new 35-hectare development that will, when complete, add a new five-star hotel complex, luxury resort villas, entertainment amenities and an international convention and exhibition center to its existing offering. The expansion is estimated at US$1 billion.
According to a Thursday release, the development – a collaboration between Lodgis Hospitality Holdings and VinaLiving – marks the next step in The Grand Ho Tram’s master plan to expand its footprint to 164 hectares.
Lodgis Hospitality Holdings is a joint venture between Warburg Pincus, which acquired The Grand Ho Tram in 2019, and local investment management giant VinaCapital.
In comments made shortly after the groundbreaking ceremony, The Grand Ho Tram’s CEO, Walt Power, said, “We firmly believe that Ho Tram will not only be Vietnam’s leading integrated resort destination but will also be able to compete with top regional destinations such as Singapore, Manila and Macau, particularly as we work closely with authorities at all levels to explore new growth drivers.”
The Grand Ho Tram has long sought a change to Vietnamese law to allow local Vietnamese to gamble in its casino and was first envisioned with such a change in mind. However, it has to date been unsuccessful in doing so and was not selected to take part in a limited three-year trial of locals gambling that recently concluded. That trial involved only Corona Resort & Casino on Phu Quoc.
First opened in 2013 with an initial investment cost of US$500 million, The Grand Ho Tram is planned to be a US$4.2 billion integrated resort once fully complete, offering a casino, 9,000 hotel rooms, an 18-hole golf course, villas and expansive retail options. The casino, golf course and some hotel rooms have been operational since opening.
US hedge fund giant Harbinger Capital – which covered the resort’s initial US$500 million investment – sold off its majority interest in The Grand Ho Tram’s parent company, Asian Coast Development Ltd (ACDL), to Warburg Pincus in July 2019.
Warburg Pincus subsequently inserted a new management team in early 2020, with Power – a Macau industry veteran whose previous roles include SVP of Operations for Sands China subsidiary Venetian Macau Limited – named CEO.
Given the ongoing absence of casino access for locals, Power told IAG in 2023 that the company was instead focused on the expat community in Ho Chi Minh City while driving domestic visitation through events.
“I would consider us to be an event-driven property,” he said at the time.
“We’ve started offering on a regular basis professional boxing, mixed martial arts events, casino-related VIP dinners, fashion shows and beauty pageants. Our onus is to have events here to give a reason for customers to drive those two-and-a-half hours from Ho Chi Minh City, as well as our international arrivals from Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
“We’re certainly a weekend driven business so that’s our current strategy. We are taking a leaf out of Macau and The Venetian in Las Vegas by filling the hotel up with MICE events during the week, and then weekends are for holiday makers, tourists and casino guests.”
