The Maharadja Suite at Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa

Victoria’s current portfolio comprises five boutique-sized properties throughout Vietnam and a resort in Siem Reap, Cambodia. For now, the company owns or holds a partial stake in all six of its properties, but with skyrocketing land prices in Vietnam, Victoria is primarily seeking management deals going forward, preferably for new-build properties.

The hotel company and its management branch, Victoria Vietnam Group, are subsidiaries of Electricité et Eaux de Madagascar, a publicly traded French company that has invested about US$60 million into the Victoria portfolio to date.

Managing Director Eric Simard hopes to add at least two new properties to that portfolio by 2010, likely in Laos, he says. The company also is reportedly close to securing an additional management deal in Vietnam. Simard would not offer an ultimate target in terms of portfolio size, noting only that Victoria hopes to expand “as soon as possible” in the remote areas of the region.

Victoria properties are designed to fit their natural surroundings, and with the largely unspoiled environments of Vietnam’s ocean paradises as a backdrop, Victoria is eager to take a leading role in supporting eco-tourism, Simard says. As part of its ecological mindset, Victoria hosts an annual “green day” cleanup event at each of its properties, for example. “Being located in remote areas is Victoria’s concept, so we built our properties in harmony with the local surroundings,” Simard says.

Victoria Chau Doc Hotel & Resort, Vietnam

“Victoria Hotels & Resorts are not located in the oversaturated hotel markets of Saigon and Hanoi, but in more remote areas, where guests can enjoy the beautiful and unique scenery and the authenticity and cultural richness of Vietnam and Cambodia,” Simard notes.

Besides its six hotels and resorts—Victoria Sapa Resort, Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa, Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort & Spa, Victoria Can Tho Resort, Victoria Chau Doc Hotel and Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa—the company also operates The Victoria Express Train, which offers luxury rail transport between Hanoi and Sapa. Round-trip tickets on the train cost between US$120 and US$290. Additionally, Victoria Speedboats on the Mekong River connect Chau Doc with Phnom Penh, and Le Jarai cruise ship makes frequent treks from Chau Doc to Long Xuyen.

For now, Victoria’s marketing strategy mainly consists of promotions via travel agents and tour operators, along with sales through its victoriahotels-asia.com Web site.

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