VietNamNet Bridge - Big money has been poured into amusement parks in famous tourism sites, with many  projects capitalized at trillions of dong already completed or under construction.

Similar projects can be seen in Las Vegas in the US, Genting in Malaysia, Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong and Pattaya in Thailand, with tens of billions of dollars going to the tourism industry of host countries.

Vietnamese investments in this field have boomed in recent years thanks to the strong development of the tourism industry.

Ba Na Hills, Asia Park of Sungroup and Vinpearl, and Vingroup's Safari zoo on Phu Quoc Island are cited as typical examples of the investment wave.

However, experts pointed out that the number of large amusement parks in Vietnam remains modest which still doesn’t truly reflect Vietnam’s great tourism potential, and that Vietnamese still need more world-class entertainment areas.

According to Tran Ngoc Quang, secretary general of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, the majority of the resorts in Vietnam serve accommodation and business requirements. 

Big money has been poured into amusement parks in famous tourism sites, with many  projects capitalized at trillions of dong already completed or under construction.

Meanwhile, there must be two other factors in a real resort complex as well – shopping and entertainment. The other two factors do not exist in projects, except a few projects developed by large corporations.

Quang said that travelers come to Vietnam not only to enjoy beautiful landscapes, but also to relax and entertain themselves. The lack of entertainment areas explains why Vietnam still cannot attract many tourists, though it has wonderful landscapes.

Instead of traveling throughout the country, many Vietnamese go abroad and spend money overseas. A report shows that 5 million Vietnamese travel abroad each year and spend $6 billion on the trips. 

Some Vietnamese investors failed with projects in the past. Khang Thong Group, for example, announced the $2 billion investment in Happy Land project in Long An province. However, for some reasons, Happy Land could not become a super-entertainment complex as expected.

However, major Vietnamese real estate developers still tend to pour money into the projects. 

Sungroup is the pioneer in the field with projects capitalized at tens of trillions of dong, from Ba Na Hills, Asia Park (VND10 trillion), Fansipan cable car (VND4.4 trillion), Sun World Halong Park (VND7.794 trillion), Disneyland and Universal Studios themed Park at Kim Quy Project (VND4.6 trillion) and Hon Thom cable car complex in Phu Quoc Island.

Empire Group has announced investment of VND12 trillion in Cocobay project in Da Nang. Meanwhile, BRG plans to join forces with Japanese Sanrio to develop an amusement park – Hello Kitty – in Hanoi.

Thanh Mai