Danao International Holdings provides Dalat Airport with Free High Speed Internet

As Vietnam increasingly becomes a hot spot for business leaders and holidaymakers that need and want to stay in touch, Danao International Holdings Limited (DIHL) through Dalat Resorts Inc. (DRI) has addressed the trend by implementing Internet service at Dalat’s Lien Khuong Airport.

The U.S.-based company, which took ownership of the Sofitel Dalat Palace, Novotel Dalat Hotel and Dalat Palace Golf Club in 1991 and is absorbing all costs associated with the new feature, installed a network in the passenger-waiting terminal that enables fast broadband and wireless connectivity and is free to anyone traveling to Dalat.

“No matter where someone goes in the world nowadays, they want information at their fingertips,” said Tran Van Do, director of the airport. “They are comfortable using the Internet, and they rely on it for business and personal reasons. Even in places like Dalat, it’s important to meet that need of convenience.”

In addition to the WiFi service, DIHL has set up a desktop station in the VIP lounge, complete with desk, chair and PC. In return for footing the bill, DIHL receives the right to use a flash page announcing the service and who is providing it when passengers open their Web browser.

“This move is really just one a series we plan to make in order to reinvigorate Dalat and make it an international travel destination,” said T.W. Hughes, DIHL’s chief operating officer. “There are a slew of others more directly related to our properties, but we wanted to do this first. The Palace paved the way for this region 80-plus years ago. We’d like to ensure it remains high on every type of traveler’s list.”

First called Lang-Biang Palace, the 43-room Sofitel Dalat Palace was built in 1922 as the anchor to the fledgling colonial resort of Dalat, 300 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, in the cool Central Highlands.

Twelve years later, the 144-room Novotel Dalat (originally known as Hotel du Parc) was erected as an annex to the Palace, while a collection of golf holes was laid out on the pine tree-shrouded hillside opposite the lake the Palace overlooks.

In 1991, DIHL initiated a multi-million-dollar resuscitation of the historic properties, including a complete overhaul of the Dalat Palace GC, which was transformed from an eight-hole track into an 18-hole, championship layout, by IMG. The investment paid off - in its last four Planet Golf surveys, Golf Digest (USA), the world’s leading golf publication, has ranked the course No. 1 in Vietnam.

Since accepting Indochina Land’s bid last spring to become the company’s majority stakeholder, DIHL, which also owns and manages the Novotel Ocean Dunes Golf Resort and Ocean Dunes Golf Club in Phan Thiet, has taken noticeable steps to upgrade its entire portfolio.

It made Tony Chisholm general manager of the Sofitel and Novotel in Dalat, Scott Dedo operations manager at Dalat Palace GC, and Jon Bourbaud general manager of Novotel Ocean Dunes Golf Resort.

Hughes said, “Foreign investment and tourism figures hit record highs last year. It’s expected we’ll see lights on the runway in Dalat in June. Combine those facts and it means even more visitors in that direction. Everyone needs to be ready. We’re gearing up.”

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