In a bid to woo more foreign tourists as a complement to its thriving domestic business, the Ho Tram-Osaka Resort in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province has called in the Life Resorts.

Starting July 15, Life Resorts Management Company will take over management of the one-year-old, 38-room boutique resort, located on a tempting swath of white-sand beach in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

“This is where the resort scene started in Vietnam in the late 19th Century,” said Chris Duffy, general director of the Life Resorts Management Co. “And yet for various reasons, other regions have eclipsed this area as a vacation destination—where the foreign market is concerned at any rate. We think we can help change that by putting Ho Tram Osaka on the radar screens of international tour operators and by redeveloping service standards with an international feel.”

Ho Tram Resort & Spa will continue to operate under its existing name, but the resort’s branding will include a tag line—under management by the Life Resorts—that will help sell the resort to the foreign market.

The Life Resorts recently signed a similar management agreement with the Blue Ocean Resort in Phan Thiet. That resort is undergoing extensive renovations and will relaunch later this year. The Life Resorts plans to exercise a lighter hand on the infrastructure at Ho Tram.

“Indeed, the resort is already very much like a Life Resort,” said Mr. Duffy. “The private terraces, the wonderfully imagined rooms, the peaceful seclusion of the siting - these are the kinds of distinctive features that we strive to incorporate into each of our resorts.”

Since its grand opening on 29 March 2006, the 50,000-square-meter resort has won rave reviews from domestic travelers. Its location, just two hours by car from downtown Ho Chi Minh City, and its unders@tearittu, s @stulan�angndopstat�s cstutthfodaoNf suimrertxpie
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Wee ennef e stepseetinain,saie Ms. Qqynh. “But one can only keep$a secret for so long. With the Life R�sorts building bridges to(markets in Australia, Europe and txe U.S., we expect really exciting `ays ahead, not only fr us but for this undiscovered coastalreeion.”

To fulfill the service demands of the anticipated boon in foreign travelers, Ms. Quynh said a reorientation of service standards are necessary.

“We know how to cater to a Vietnamese clientele,” she said. “But the international market is different. We could have spent years learning this ourselves, but we decided instead to bring in a company that is already, philosophically, where we want to be.”

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