Rixos Phu Quoc Makes a Major Southeast Asia Move as Stefano Capaccetti Takes Charge of Vietnam’s New Island Resort

Capaccetti brings extensive experience in hotel openings, resort operations and international leadership to a property that will require unusually complex pre-opening coordination. He has spent 15 years with Rixos and most recently served as General Manager of Rixos Qetaifan North in Doha, where he led the resort through its opening ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making his background particularly relevant to another large-scale destination preparing to welcome its first guests.

His previous Rixos assignments included General Manager of Rixos Premium Dubai Jumeirah Beach Residence, work with The Land of Legends Theme Park in Antalya and cluster management responsibilities for Rixos President Astana and Rixos Borovoe in Kazakhstan. Before joining Rixos, his career included operational roles with Rezidor and senior positions with Hilton, including involvement in the opening of Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik and the opening of Hilton Rome Airport, giving him experience across hotels, resorts and major pre-opening projects.

A landmark arrival for Rixos in Southeast Asia

Rixos Phu Quoc is strategically important because it represents the brand’s first resort in Southeast Asia, bringing its Turkish-inspired hospitality and all-inclusive model to Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island destination. Rixos describes the property as a new chapter for the brand in Asia, with the resort positioned on Hon Thom Island and designed around a large-scale all-inclusive experience combining accommodation, food, entertainment, wellness and family activities.

The scale of the project has evolved across different announcements, but the latest Rixos property page currently describes nearly 1,700 rooms and suites and 21 restaurants and bars, while recent project reporting from Sun Group describes nearly 1,500 rooms, including 321 suites, and 24 restaurants and bars. The discrepancy appears to reflect changes in project and operating information, so the most defensible description is that Rixos Phu Quoc is a mega-resort with roughly 1,500 to more than 1,700 accommodation units and more than 20 food-and-beverage venues.

Hon Thom gives the resort a powerful tourism setting

The resort is located on Hon Thom Island in the southern part of Phu Quoc, placing it within a destination already known for beaches, tropical landscapes and increasingly ambitious tourism development. The property forms part of the wider Sun Paradise Land ecosystem, giving guests access to attractions including water parks, theme parks and cable-car connections alongside the resort itself.

The location is also part of the resort’s arrival experience because Hon Thom is connected to Phu Quoc’s mainland by the cable-car system. Rixos and Sun Group have positioned the island development around this connection, meaning the journey to the resort becomes part of the destination proposition rather than simply a transfer between an airport and hotel.

The resort is designed as a destination within a destination

Rixos Phu Quoc is being developed on a scale that allows guests to spend much of their holiday without needing to leave the resort complex. The current Rixos concept includes multiple dining venues, swimming pools, entertainment spaces, wellness facilities, sports activities and dedicated children’s and teenagers’ clubs, giving the property the characteristics of a self-contained holiday destination.

That model is particularly relevant to the all-inclusive segment because guests are effectively purchasing access to an entire holiday ecosystem rather than simply a room and breakfast. The more successfully a resort integrates accommodation, dining, entertainment and activities, the more convincing the value proposition becomes for families and leisure travellers looking for predictable holiday costs and a broad range of experiences in one location.

Food and beverage will be a major part of the experience

Dining is expected to be one of the resort’s defining features, with the current Rixos platform showcasing concepts ranging from Vietnamese and Asian cuisine to Mediterranean, French, Turkish and other international influences. The property’s official information highlights venues such as Terra Mare, The Market, People’s, Mandarin and Turquoise, illustrating how extensively food and beverage is being integrated into the overall resort experience.

This breadth is important because food and beverage is a central component of the all-inclusive business model, where guests can move between restaurants, buffets, bars and cafés throughout their stay. Rixos’ wider food-and-beverage philosophy emphasises variety, flexibility and international cuisine, meaning Capaccetti’s operational team will need to coordinate a substantial culinary organisation while maintaining consistency across numerous outlets.

Entertainment is being built into the resort’s identity

Rixos is also putting significant emphasis on entertainment, with the resort concept including a purpose-built amphitheatre, live shows, pool parties, themed beach events and evening activities. The aim is to create an environment where entertainment forms part of the daily rhythm of a holiday rather than being an occasional addition to the guest experience.

That positioning could help Rixos differentiate itself from traditional luxury beach resorts in Vietnam, particularly among travellers seeking an active holiday with multiple experiences included in the stay. The combination of live entertainment, nightlife, sports and family programming also allows the property to appeal to several generations travelling together.

Families are a major part of the strategy

Rixos Phu Quoc is being positioned as a family-friendly resort, with Rixy Kids Club and a dedicated Teens Club alongside swimming, sports and outdoor activities. The children’s programme is designed around supervised activities, creative experiences and outdoor adventures, while the teenagers’ offering includes sports, gaming and social spaces.

This matters commercially because family travel increasingly rewards resorts capable of serving different age groups simultaneously. Parents can access wellness, dining or relaxation while children and teenagers have dedicated spaces and activities, creating a more complete holiday proposition than a resort focused exclusively on adult leisure.

Wellness will extend the resort beyond the beach

The property is also incorporating a Turkish-inspired spa, hammam rituals and wellness treatments alongside fitness and outdoor activities. That element connects directly with Rixos’ heritage while also responding to the growing demand for wellness-led travel, where travellers increasingly want relaxation and health-oriented experiences alongside traditional beach holidays.

For Phu Quoc, the combination of beach, wellness, entertainment and family facilities could help broaden the island’s appeal beyond conventional sun-and-sea tourism. It gives international visitors more reasons to choose a longer stay while potentially supporting the destination’s ambition to attract higher-value leisure demand.

Capaccetti’s opening experience could be critical

Large resort openings require a different management approach from established hotel operations because the General Manager must simultaneously build a team, establish operating standards, coordinate suppliers, test technology, prepare guest journeys and develop commercial systems. Capaccetti’s previous experience with major openings means he has already worked through many of the operational pressures that arise when a resort transitions from construction project to functioning tourism business.

His experience at Rixos Qetaifan North is especially relevant because that property opened in a high-profile market ahead of one of the world’s largest sporting events. Managing a major opening under such circumstances requires close coordination between construction, operations, marketing, staffing and destination partners, skills that can be transferred to the complex Phu Quoc launch.

Vietnam is becoming an increasingly important tourism market

Rixos’ arrival comes as Vietnam continues to strengthen its position as an international leisure destination, supported by growing connectivity, resort investment and demand from regional and long-haul travellers. Phu Quoc has particular advantages because of its tropical setting and established resort infrastructure, while the southern part of the island is developing a larger ecosystem of attractions and entertainment.

The introduction of a major all-inclusive luxury brand adds another layer to that tourism proposition because it gives international travellers an accommodation model that is already familiar in markets such as Turkey, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Rixos can therefore use its existing brand recognition while adapting the experience to Vietnam’s cultural and natural environment.

The Vietnamese identity could be part of the brand’s global expansion

Sun Group has highlighted the architectural and cultural identity being incorporated into the project, including references to Vietnamese heritage within the resort’s design. Capaccetti has also described the architecture and cultural story as important assets for positioning Rixos Phu Quoc internationally, suggesting that the resort will not simply reproduce a standardised Rixos experience from another market.

That balance between international brand standards and local identity will be important for the resort’s success. International travellers may choose Rixos because they recognise the brand, but the destination itself needs to feel distinctly Vietnamese if the property is to provide a meaningful sense of place rather than simply a transplanted luxury resort.

What travellers can expect from Rixos Phu Quoc

Travellers can expect an all-inclusive resort built around extensive choice, with accommodation, dining, entertainment, family activities, wellness and sports integrated into one large-scale property. The latest Rixos information highlights ocean-view accommodation, multiple restaurants and bars, a Turkish-inspired spa, Rixy Kids Club, Teens Club, entertainment venues and access to attractions within the wider Sun Paradise Land ecosystem.

The resort’s island location is another major part of the experience because guests can combine a luxury stay with beaches, cable-car travel and nearby attractions. Sun Group currently says the resort is expected to welcome guests from November 2026, while other travel and hospitality listings have indicated an autumn or fourth-quarter opening, so travellers should check official booking information as the opening approaches.

A major test for all-inclusive tourism in Southeast Asia

Rixos Phu Quoc could become an important test of how successfully the large-scale all-inclusive model can translate into Southeast Asia. The concept is already highly established in destinations such as Turkey and Egypt, but Southeast Asian tourism markets have traditionally offered a stronger mix of room-only, breakfast-inclusive and independently operated resort experiences.

The scale of Rixos Phu Quoc gives the brand an opportunity to demonstrate that all-inclusive luxury can work alongside the destination’s wider tourism economy rather than replacing it. Guests can remain within the resort for most of their stay while still having access to island attractions, cable-car experiences and the wider entertainment ecosystem, potentially creating a hybrid model between self-contained resort holidays and destination exploration.

Accor’s wider role adds international scale

Rixos operates within Accor’s broader hospitality ecosystem, giving the resort access to one of the world’s largest hotel groups and its international distribution infrastructure. Accor says it operates more than 5,600 hotels across more than 110 countries, creating a substantial platform for Rixos as the brand expands beyond its established markets.

For Phu Quoc, that international reach could help increase the property’s visibility among travellers who already know Accor and Rixos brands. It also provides opportunities to connect the resort with broader loyalty, distribution and sales networks as the island competes for international visitors.

Why this appointment matters for Vietnam tourism

Capaccetti’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment because Rixos Phu Quoc is more than another luxury hotel opening. It represents the arrival of a major international all-inclusive resort brand in Southeast Asia and the development of a very large hospitality operation on an island that is becoming increasingly important to Vietnam’s international tourism strategy.

His opening experience will be tested by the sheer scale of the property, its large food-and-beverage operation, extensive entertainment programme and need to recruit and train a substantial workforce. If those elements come together successfully, Rixos Phu Quoc could become one of the most consequential resort openings in Vietnam’s current tourism cycle.