Vietnam’s central coast city Da Nang has become one of the region’s hottest resort cities, where luxury hotels with giant pools and upscale rooms line the beach, Nikkei Asia Review reported. 

French hotel group Accor was the first western players to enter Da Nang amid a 40% increase of foreign tourist influx coming to Southeast Asia from the 2012 – 2017 period. 

The group debuted a location in 2011 and now runs five hotels in Da Nang, including the Pullman Da Nang Beach Resort, which opened in 2013.

Many multinationals following suit prompted the group, commonly known as AccorHotels, to take a bold step and renovate the luxury Pullman after five years in business. The city boasts 15% more guest rooms than a year ago, said Fraser Ross, Pullman's general manager.

About a 10-minute drive from the Pullman stands the Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort, run by Marriott. The luxury hotel, which opened in 2018, already garners an "extremely high occupancy rate of around 80%," a representative was quoted by Nikkei as saying. Latecomer Marriott debuted its first Da Nang site last year but now runs two hotels there as it plays catch-up with Accor.

The French company rules the roost in Southeast Asia. Accor holds the biggest share of guest rooms in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, and ranks second in Malaysia, data from UK hotel research company STR shows.

Southeast Asia provided easier entry for Accor than Japan or China, where global No. 1 Marriott had already established a big presence, aid Patrick Basset, chief operating officer of AccorHotels for upper Southeast and Northeast Asia told Nikkei. 

Accor, looking to extend its grip on the rapidly growing market, will double its Southeast Asian hotel network to 600 locations over the next 10 years, said Basset.

Marriott, which has a luxury-heavy portfolio, intends to challenge Accor by bolstering its casual brands and opening more W Hotels and other five-star accommodations. 

The US hotel chain, which is said to have about half as many Southeast Asian locations as Accor, acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in 2016. 

This move brought brands such as Sheraton, which has enjoyed success in Asia, under its umbrella. Marriott plans to enter emerging markets soon.

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