CHAIRMAN OF THIEN MINH GROUP, TRAN TRONG KIEN: “TOURISTS ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE”

Trained in medicine, Tran Trong Kien started his career in tourism and after 25 yers is the Chairman of Thien Minh Group (TMG) - a trillion-dollar corporation which provides a tourism service system ranging from destination management, hotels and technology solutions to aviation services. The success of Vietnam's tourism in 2019 in terms of revenue, number of visitors, growth rate and competing capability is thanks to contributions from entrepreneurs and corporations such as Tran Trong Kien and TMG.

On the eve of New

Year 2020, Travellive had a talk with Tran Trong Kien about opportunities as well as challenges that need to be overcome to keep Vietnam tourism developing strongly in the future.

 IN 2019, VIETNAM’S TOURISM MARKET HAS HAD MANY CHANGES, INCLUDING MANY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TMG. COULD YOU PLEASE SHARE WITH US SOME OF TMG’S REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES THIS YEAR?

In 2019, in addition to continuing to develop and grow the traditional businesses that have been successful over the past 25 years, TMG launched two new businesses. We hosted more than 300,000 guests at our hotels, had over 30 million visits and served more than 50,000 Vietnamese guests from the ivivu.com platform. Although the tourism segment has just started to rebuild, TMG has also served more than 60,000 international guests. TMG also continues to invest in new properties such as the Flower Garden Hotel in Hanoi and new experiences such as scenic flights and charter flights from Da Nang to Hue, Quang Binh and other airports in the Center and the South of Vietnam.

Especially this year, we are promoting our investment cooperation with the world’s leading corporations such as HIS (Japan) and WWT (UK) to successfully launch yacht service in Ha Long and a first high-class yacht service connecting Can Tho and Phnom Penh; with TUI (Germany), we started the TUI Blue Nam Hoi An hotel - the first hotel of TUI Group in Vietnam.

 WE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN YOUR PREPARATIONS TO LAUNCH TMG’S KITES AIR AIRLINE. CAN YOU SHARE MORE DETAILS ABOUT KITES AIR SO FAR? AND IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL ABOUT KITES AIR THAT MAKES IT COMPETITIVE WITH OTHER AIRLINES?

Kites Air is built from the idea of connecting communities, destinations and new experiences, so we will explore each market with a different approach from existing airlines as well as the airlines that are carrying out licensing procedures in the near future. Kites Air aims to erase the differences of age, background and profession and has only one goal: to meet the travel needs of passengers in general and tourists in particular, in a convenient and easy way, at an affordable price compatible with the income of the majority of the population in small and mediumsized cities. Kites Air’s operation network will focus on connecting small and medium airports, especially limited airports. We will focus on a competitive pricing strategy and a simplified flying experience for our customers.

 LOOKING AT THE SERVICE SYSTEM THAT TMG IS CURRENTLY PROVIDING, IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN THE LEVEL OF SERVICES FROM NORMAL TO LUXURY AND VIP. WHY DOES TMG HAVE THIS ORIENTATION?

TMG has an entire tourism ecology with businesses including destination management, hospitality, technology solutions and aviation services. These different businesses create a complementary support for each other, especially helping us understand our customers better than any single supplier and thereby providing our customers with the best experience throughout their journey. TMG believes that developing product lines such as EMM Hotels, Kites Air or the ivivu.com app will help many tourists, especially Vietnamese, have access to great experiences without necessarily having to spend a lot of money. I want to emphasize that although being sold at different prices, all products of TMG achieve a level of uniqueness and creativity with a dedication to service that always offers the most memorable experience.

 RECENTLY, TMG OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED THE 4-STAR VICTORIA MEKONG CRUISE WITH A 7-NIGHT ROUND-TRIP ITINERARY ON THE MEKONG. CRUISING ON THE MEKONG IS A SERVICE THAT HAS BEEN OPERATED FOR MANY YEARS BUT THE MEKONG RIVER IS AT RISK OF DRYING OUT. WHAT IS YOUR EVALUATION OF THIS SITUATION?

Global climate change is a world problem and Vietnam is not expempt from these challenges. There are many different forecasts about the future of the Mekong in the coming decades. TMG started the project equipped with all the necessary information. I would like to emphasize that environmental protection and nature conservation has always been one of the top priorities in all activities of TMG and all of its companies. Therefore, Victoria Mekong yacht is best designed for the program between Can Tho and Phnom Penh as well as best equipped for safe operation and minimal environmental impact. Yachts meet the most stringent standards for wastewater treatment, energy saving and renewable energy use. In terms of operation, the yacht is also the first yacht to “say no” to plastic waste. I believe the yacht is currently the “greenest” cruise operating in the Mekong.

The Mekong Delta is also home to nearly 20 million Vietnamese and Cambodians. Environmental challenges have been demanding major changes in the economic

WE MUST NOT ALLOW DEVELOPMENT THAT DESTROYS NATURE, POLLUTES THE ENVIRONMENT, CONTRIBUTES NOTHING TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY, UNDERMINES TRADITIONAL CULTURAL VALUES OR WORSENS THE IMAGE OF DESTINATIONS.

structure of the region. I believe that tourism, if invested in the right direction and with good incentive mechanisms, will contribute significantly to improving the lives of indigenous peoples in addition to creating new jobs. We believe that one day, Can Tho will become a center of high-class river cruises of Asia and the world.

 BY THE WAY, WE WANT TO MENTION SUSTAINABLE TOURISM - A HOT TOPIC WHICH HAS BEEN A DEEP CONCERN AROUND THE WORLD IN RECENT YEARS. WHAT ARE TMG’S PLANS FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT?

For me, the most important point is: No matter what you do, don’t squander your children or grandchildren’s oppoturnities. That is, we must not allow development that destroys nature, pollutes the environment, contributes nothing to the local economy, undermines traditional cultural values or worsens the image of destinations.

Everything TMG has done over the last 25 years has taken responsibility and sustainability into the forefront. That is one of TMG’S core values. Many of our companies achieve very high standards of sustainability such as C-corp (PEAK Vietnam) and of environmental and social standards of the World Bank (Victoria Hotels and Resorts). Our member companies also received international awards for conservation and social responsibility. However, the most important thing is the awareness of all the leaders and employees in TMG to ensure that 100% of tourism products are not only creative, unique and excellent, but also environmentally friendly. KPIS on conservation, environment and social impact are set annually for management levels and become part of the annual results assessment of each unit and the whole corporation.

 IN 2019, MANY HOTELS/RESORTS ONLY REACHED LESS THAN 50% CAPACITY. HOWEVER, THE MARKET WITNESSED A MASSIVE INFLUX OF INTERNATIONAL HOTEL GROUPS IN 2019 AND A SERIES OF 4-STAR/5STAR PROJECTS PREPARING TO LAUNCH IN 2020 RESULTING IN PERSONNEL SHORTAGES AND MANAGEMENT INSTABILITY IN THE INDUSTRY. DOES THIS SITUATION LEAD TO LARGE FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICE AND SERVICE QUALITY? AND WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION?

Vietnam is now one of the most attractive and fastest growing destinations in the world. The fact that many domestic and foreign investors invest in tourism infrastructure, especially in resorts, is a very good signal, showing confidence in Vietnam’s development and tourism market in the future.

However, with the massive increase in supply, the operation of hotels in many destinations has been and will be facing many challenges. The first reason is that we have not at the same time developed other infrastructure such as airports, airlines or road traffic connections to be able to accommodate many visitors. Secondly, we have not invested sufficiently in destination marketing to the target markets, which are sustainable and highly affordable. Thirdly, we still do not really pay attention and invest properly in experimental, specific and creative products.

In the near future, customers will benefit because the prices in the Vietnamese market are very competitive compared to the region. However, in order to improve labor productivity and increase the efficiency of resources, we must immediately improve the aforementioned weaknesses.

The world tourism market in 2020 will face many challenges and may only increase about 3.5% (lower than 2019) but I believe Vietnam’s tourism market will continue its growth in 2020.

In Vietnam, tourists are paying more attention to the quality of experience, even those coming from markets that were previously considered easygoing like China and South Korea. Tourists will stay longer if the destination is safe, clean and has many interesting experiences. Tourists who tend to look for unique

cultural values and pristine ecology are also increasing.

Vietnam’s strength, thanks to its competitive prices and abundant natural and cultural resources, has created an attractive value for tourists. Vietnam has achieved considerable achievements in terms of international openness, competitive pricing and aviation infrastructure. However, compared to countries like Thailand, Vietnam still has challenges to tackle to develop tourism more strongly such as continuing to improve visa policy, invest more budget for promotion, upgrading and investing in infrastructure as well as protecting the environment, investing and developing tourism human resources, etc.

WITH SUCH PREDICTIONS, WHAT ARE TMG’S PLANS FOR 2020?

With the vision to become Asia’s leading tourism group, we will continue to promote the expansion of four main business areas including hotel, aviation, technology and destination management. The cornerstones of our strategy are TMG People, TMG Technology and TMG Experience Ecosystem. 2020 will be an extremely active year and, if there is a bit of luck, will be the year we launch the most products to date in all four business areas. In the coming time, we will launch Spiceviet restaurant in Hanoi in February, will open TUI Blue Nam Hoi An in March, and according to the plan, a new product will be brought to the market every month. - Thank you!