Vietnamese hotel groups are moving towards a pivotal stage of hospitality growth as stronger local decision-making, improving luxury standards and deeper partnerships with international operators create a pathway towards wider Southeast Asian expansion. Speaking exclusively to Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, Correspondent from Travel and Tour World, during Hotel Innovation Summit Vietnam 2026 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, on 29 July 2026, Frederic Savoye, CCO of Alma Resort, explained how Vietnamese hospitality companies can combine their speed, local market knowledge and increasingly sophisticated resort products with international operating expertise to build stronger brands capable of competing beyond Vietnam.
During the exclusive interview with Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, Correspondent from Travel and Tour World, Savoye shared insights into the competitive position of Vietnamese hotel groups, the advantages international operators continue to hold, changing source markets, luxury tourism opportunities, resort development strategy and the role of management agreements and franchising in building long-term operating capability. His wider message was that Vietnamese hospitality groups have the potential to develop into major Southeast Asian players over the coming five years if stronger standards, leadership, market agility and international expertise are brought together.
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Hotel Innovation Summit Vietnam 2026 provided an important setting for examining how Vietnam’s hotel sector could evolve from rapid domestic development towards stronger regional competitiveness.
Savoye’s assessment suggests that the country’s hospitality industry is increasingly moving beyond questions of whether Vietnamese groups can develop large and attractive hotels.
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The more important issue is now how those properties are operated, differentiated and positioned for increasingly demanding international travellers.
Vietnamese ownership groups already benefit from local market knowledge and closer relationships between management and ownership.
However, regional expansion will require those strengths to be supported by stronger operating systems, skilled leadership and consistent service delivery.
This creates a new phase for Vietnam’s hospitality industry in which physical expansion and operational sophistication will increasingly need to advance together.
One of the strongest messages from the interview was the potential for Vietnamese hospitality groups to build businesses capable of competing beyond the country’s borders.
Savoye said the foundations are already being developed, but reaching that level will require greater organisational scale, stronger skills and an ability to respond rapidly to changing international travel markets.
The opportunity is significant because Vietnamese groups can combine local ownership structures with increasingly sophisticated hotel and resort products.
The next step involves converting those advantages into sustainable operating capability.
That means strengthening leadership, maintaining international-level standards and building enough credibility among guests, employees and international partners to support expansion.
If those elements come together, Savoye believes the type of Vietnamese hospitality group being discussed today could evolve into a significant Southeast Asian hospitality player within the next five years.
Vietnamese hotel groups are already capable of competing directly with international companies in several important areas.
Savoye identified product quality, design and resort scale as areas where local groups can increasingly stand alongside international operators.
This is an important distinction.
Vietnam’s challenge is therefore not simply about developing larger or more visually impressive hospitality assets.
The competitive battleground is moving towards what happens after those assets open.
International guests expect reliable housekeeping, food and beverage standards, service processes and operating consistency regardless of the destination they visit.
Vietnamese developers may therefore already possess much of the physical product required to compete internationally.
Their future advantage will depend on ensuring that operating quality develops at the same speed as hotel construction and resort investment.
Speed could become one of the strongest competitive advantages available to Vietnamese hospitality groups.
Savoye explained that local operators are often much closer to ownership than large international hotel organisations.
That shorter decision-making structure can allow investment approvals and commercial responses to happen more rapidly.
Major multinational hotel companies frequently operate through several organisational layers before important investment decisions reach final approval.
Vietnamese groups can sometimes move faster.
That agility becomes particularly valuable when travel demand changes suddenly.
New source markets can emerge quickly, geopolitical developments can redirect travellers and consumer expectations can shift within a short period.
Hotel companies able to change pricing, product offers, facilities or market strategy rapidly can potentially capture those opportunities before slower competitors react.
For Vietnamese groups, proximity to ownership can therefore become a genuine strategic advantage rather than simply an organisational difference.
Despite the growing strength of Vietnamese groups, international hotel operators continue to hold important competitive advantages.
Savoye pointed particularly towards consistency.
Large international groups have spent decades developing standard operating procedures, training systems and established expectations around service delivery.
These structures help create predictable levels of comfort and reliability for travellers.
Housekeeping, food and beverage operations and other fundamental hotel services must perform consistently because international customers arrive with established expectations.
Failing to deliver those basic standards can become especially damaging for younger hospitality brands seeking global credibility.
Social media and online reviews mean poor experiences can reach potential customers quickly.
For Vietnamese hotel groups aiming to compete internationally, maintaining excellent physical assets will therefore not be enough.
Building dependable operating standards across every department will become equally important.
International hotel groups also possess something that is difficult for younger regional brands to recreate quickly: enormous global loyalty networks.
Savoye highlighted the power of established membership programmes operated by major hotel companies.
These programmes give global groups access to millions of existing customers.
They can direct those travellers towards particular hotels, destinations, countries and regions.
For an independent Vietnamese group without an international management agreement, franchise relationship or established global membership system, competing for international customers can therefore be more difficult.
This distribution advantage extends far beyond traditional advertising.
A strong loyalty programme gives an international hotel operator a ready-made customer base with established purchasing behaviour and familiarity with the brand.
Vietnamese groups seeking international expansion will need to develop their own loyalty proposition or find ways to access established global networks through partnerships.
Competing internationally does not mean Vietnamese hospitality groups need to become copies of global hotel companies.
Savoye suggested that distinctiveness could become an important part of their competitive proposition.
International consistency offers reassurance to travellers, but excessive standardisation can also make hotel experiences feel similar across destinations.
Vietnamese operators have an opportunity to combine reliable international-standard fundamentals with experiences that remain locally distinctive.
That combination can create stronger emotional connections with guests while protecting the identity of the hotel or resort.
The objective is not simply to attract customers once.
A distinctive experience supported by dependable quality can encourage repeat visits, positive recommendations and stronger word of mouth.
Over time, those outcomes can help Vietnamese hospitality brands create loyal international customer bases without abandoning what makes their properties different.
Another important theme from the interview was the need to involve hospitality expertise from the earliest stages of hotel and resort development.
Savoye argued that mistakes made during the initial planning process can create commercial problems lasting for decades.
Architecture, design and operational planning cannot be separated completely from the future customer experience.
A property may be visually impressive, but if its layout, facilities or overall concept do not match the needs of its intended guests, operating the hotel successfully can become much more difficult.
Hospitality professionals should therefore become involved while the project is still being conceived.
Understanding customer behaviour at this stage allows developers to shape the property around the travellers they intend to attract.
Early operational expertise can consequently turn good real-estate development into a stronger and more sustainable hospitality business.
Successful resort development begins with understanding who the customer will be.
Savoye explained that developers need to identify their target source markets and traveller segments before deciding what facilities and experiences a property should provide.
A resort designed primarily for families will need a different proposition from one targeting young adults.
Similarly, a hotel relying on regional Asian customers may face different guest patterns from a property targeting long-haul markets.
The intended customer will influence the facilities, activities and overall structure of the resort.
Without that clarity, properties can face a continuing struggle to reposition themselves and search repeatedly for new customers.
Understanding the source market at the beginning therefore influences far more than marketing.
It affects the physical concept of the hotel itself and can determine whether the property remains commercially relevant over the long term.
Length of stay is another critical factor in resort planning.
Savoye contrasted regional travellers staying around two or three nights with guests remaining for seven, ten or even fourteen nights.
Short-stay travellers generally need efficiency.
They may not want to spend significant time moving around an enormous resort or navigating large numbers of facilities during a brief holiday.
Long-stay guests require something very different.
Travellers spending a week or longer at the same property need enough activities, facilities and physical space to remain engaged throughout their stay.
For families in particular, variety becomes increasingly important.
This means resort scale should not automatically be viewed as an advantage.
The appropriate size and facility mix depend on the customer being targeted.
For Vietnamese developers, aligning resort design with expected stay patterns can strengthen both customer satisfaction and commercial performance.
Global travel demand has become increasingly sensitive to geopolitical and economic disruption.
Savoye described how changing conditions can create both threats and opportunities for hospitality companies.
Airfare changes can weaken demand from established source markets, while travellers from other countries can suddenly begin searching for new destinations.
The interview highlighted how increased energy costs and more expensive air travel affected some source-market demand in the Vietnamese resort market being discussed.
Other Asian destinations were positioned to benefit from changing travel patterns.
For hotel groups, the lesson is clear.
Dependence on a limited number of international markets creates vulnerability.
Vietnamese hospitality businesses seeking long-term growth must therefore remain agile enough to identify new demand quickly and diversify their customer mix as global conditions change.
One of the clearest examples of changing international demand involved Russian travellers.
Savoye said geopolitical disruption affecting the Middle East contributed to a sudden shift in holiday choices among some Russian customers.
Travellers who might previously have selected Middle Eastern destinations began considering alternatives.
Egypt, Türkiye and Southeast Asia were among the options that could benefit from that changing demand.
Vietnam subsequently experienced a significant increase from the Russian source market within the destination context discussed during the interview.
For Vietnamese hospitality companies, such shifts demonstrate why market agility matters.
Demand can emerge rapidly from markets that may not previously have represented the largest share of business.
The challenge is not simply attracting those travellers during a period of disruption.
The greater opportunity lies in converting temporary demand into lasting loyalty.
A sudden rise in demand creates an obvious opportunity for hotels to increase average room rates.
Savoye argued that hospitality companies should look beyond that immediate financial benefit.
Stronger demand should also become an opportunity to invest in the quality of the guest experience.
Travellers redirected from other premium destinations may arrive with high expectations.
Simply charging more without improving what the customer receives could weaken long-term value.
The smarter strategy is to use growing demand and stronger rates to improve service standards, products and experiences.
If new customers receive excellent value, they may choose Vietnam again even after other destinations become easily accessible.
That can transform temporary market disruption into permanent customer acquisition.
For Vietnamese hotels, stronger profitability and stronger service delivery should therefore advance together.
Vietnam has an opportunity to strengthen its position among travellers accustomed to premium resort markets.
Savoye drew comparisons with high-end hospitality destinations in the Middle East, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.
Luxury hospitality standards in those markets are extremely high.
Customers are often prepared to pay premium prices, but they also expect exceptional products and service.
Vietnamese resorts seeking the same traveller therefore need to compete on experience rather than price alone.
Higher room rates must be supported by improved service quality, stronger emotional experiences and a clear premium value proposition.
If those elements develop successfully, Vietnam can strengthen perceptions of its luxury hospitality sector and attract a broader range of higher-spending source markets.
That could also create stronger foundations for Vietnamese hotel brands seeking regional expansion.
Diversification will be central to the next stage of Vietnamese hospitality growth.
Savoye indicated that new international markets are already becoming part of the industry’s wider opportunity.
Australia was identified as an important example of a market where progress has been made, while Japan and the United States were also discussed as markets offering further potential.
This broader international reach matters because premium hospitality cannot depend permanently on one country or region.
A diversified source-market mix can help hotels respond more effectively when economic conditions, geopolitical events or airfare movements weaken demand from individual countries.
It can also allow resorts to build stronger year-round demand.
However, attracting those markets requires more than increasing international promotion.
Vietnamese hotel groups must ensure their products and experiences are designed to meet different customer expectations while retaining a recognisable identity.
Global hotel operators could play an important role in helping Vietnamese groups accelerate their development.
Savoye described management agreements as one practical pathway for transferring international expertise into locally owned hospitality businesses.
Bringing an established international operator into a project during its early development can provide access to senior leadership, systems, operating expertise and structured training.
Hotels are complex businesses involving numerous departments and specialist disciplines.
Developing every capability independently can be difficult.
An international operator can help establish operating standards while also strengthening commercial expertise in areas such as hotel pricing and global market positioning.
The arrangement comes with management fees, but it can also accelerate organisational learning.
For Vietnamese ownership groups, international partnerships can therefore function as a bridge between strong real-estate development and mature hospitality operations.
The value of an international management agreement can extend beyond having a global company operate a hotel.
It can also become a capability-building mechanism for the owner.
During the management period, Vietnamese groups can gain exposure to established international procedures, training frameworks, commercial systems and senior-management practices.
That knowledge can gradually strengthen the owner’s internal organisation.
Over time, the objective can shift from relying heavily on the international operator towards developing sufficient internal capability to operate a larger portfolio directly.
This creates a more strategic way of viewing global partnerships.
Rather than permanently outsourcing hospitality operations, ownership groups can use international management relationships to learn how successful global hotel systems work.
That knowledge can later support greater independence while preserving the operating standards required by international customers.
Franchising could become particularly important once Vietnamese hospitality companies develop sufficient organisational scale.
Savoye suggested that management agreements can be structured with a possible future transition towards a franchise model.
Under this approach, an international operator can initially provide the systems, expertise and management support needed to establish strong standards.
Once the local ownership group has developed enough capability, it can potentially take greater responsibility for hotel operations while continuing to benefit from the international brand.
That can provide access to global distribution, brand recognition and established standards while giving the Vietnamese group greater operating control.
For companies seeking to build sizeable portfolios, the progression from management agreement to franchise could therefore offer a practical route towards both capability development and international competitiveness.
Successful international expansion will also require Vietnamese hotels to recognise that travellers from different countries do not behave in the same way.
Savoye highlighted distinctions between Asian, Russian, CIS, Australian, Kazakh and Japanese source markets.
Different travellers can have different expectations around meal plans, activities, length of stay and the overall resort experience.
Vietnamese groups therefore need enough flexibility to adapt selected parts of their proposition to individual markets.
This does not mean changing the identity of the hotel every time a new nationality arrives.
The stronger approach is to retain a clear brand identity while understanding what matters most to specific customers.
Hotels able to combine consistency with market-specific personalisation can strengthen satisfaction across a more diverse international customer base.
A stronger mix of international travellers willing to pay premium or luxury rates can also support long-term property improvement.
Savoye linked the ability to attract higher-value customers with the capacity of hotels to keep developing their products and maintaining strong service delivery.
Premium positioning therefore has wider implications than simply increasing room revenue.
Greater financial strength can help properties remain competitive as customer expectations rise.
It can support continued investment in physical assets, experiences, service quality and human resources.
For Vietnamese hotel groups aiming to compete across Southeast Asia, this creates a reinforcing cycle.
Better standards can attract stronger demand.
Stronger demand can support higher-value positioning.
Higher-value business can then provide resources to maintain and further improve standards.
That cycle will be important if local brands are to compete sustainably with established international operators.
International systems alone will not create successful regional hospitality companies.
Senior leadership will be essential to maintaining standards as Vietnamese groups expand.
Savoye emphasised the need for organisations to develop leaders capable of carrying international operating disciplines forward even as ownership structures and brand relationships evolve.
That leadership also influences the ability to attract talented employees.
Hospitality brands need credibility not only among guests and commercial partners but also among people deciding where they want to build their careers.
Strong companies attract stronger talent.
Stronger talent supports better service and more consistent operations.
For Vietnamese hotel groups seeking to operate larger portfolios, employer reputation and leadership development will therefore become strategic issues.
Regional growth will depend as much on organisational capability as on the number of properties being developed.
Across the discussion, Savoye presented Vietnamese hospitality as an industry with substantial physical strength and increasing international ambition.
Local groups already compete strongly in resort scale, product quality and design.
Their proximity to ownership can also give them a speed advantage when markets change.
International operators, however, continue to offer established systems, global loyalty networks, commercial expertise and consistent operating standards.
The strongest future model could therefore combine these advantages rather than treating them as competing alternatives.
Vietnamese groups can preserve their local identity and decision-making agility while using international management agreements, expertise and eventually franchise structures to accelerate capability building.
That combination could strengthen Vietnam’s premium hospitality proposition while preparing locally owned groups for expansion beyond the domestic market.
The wider message from Hotel Innovation Summit Vietnam 2026 is that Vietnamese hotel groups are approaching an important opportunity to transform strong domestic hospitality assets into regionally competitive businesses.
Success will require more than rapid hotel development.
Groups will need international operating standards, skilled senior leadership, diversified source markets, distinctive guest experiences and the organisational ability to respond quickly when global travel patterns change.
Partnerships with international operators can accelerate that process by transferring expertise and establishing systems during the early stages of development.
Franchising can later provide a pathway towards greater local operational control while retaining global brand advantages.
If Vietnamese groups successfully combine those capabilities with their existing agility and local knowledge, Savoye believes they can build the credibility and scale required to become significant Southeast Asian hospitality players within the next five years.
This article is based exclusively on an interview conducted by Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, Correspondent from Travel and Tour World, with Frederic Savoye, CCO of Alma Resort, at Hotel Innovation Summit Vietnam 2026 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, on 29 July 2026. All information reflects statements made during the interview.
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Tags: global hotel partnerships, luxury hospitality growth, Southeast Asia hotels, Vietnam Hospitality
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