MGM Enters Vietnam

MGM Mirage, the world’s second-largest casino operator, signed a deal with Ho Tram Project Company to brand and manage one of five resorts planned for the Ho Tram Strip project in Vietnam’s southern Va Ria-Vung Tau Province. MGM Mirage is investing no money in the project, nor is it involved in raising financing, according to the company.

The operator plans to open the resort in 2011 under the name MGM Grand Ho Tram. The $1.4 billion beachfront resort will feature two hotel towers with 1,110 rooms total, along with a casino, an entertainment facility, luxury retail, restaurants, meeting space, live entertainment stages, spa services and an exclusive VIP area. A championship golf course is being designed by PGA legend Greg Norman to coincide with the opening of the MGM Mirage project.

The MGM project will be part of the massive Ho Tram Strip development, a $4.2 billion project with 9,000 planned hotel rooms, to be built in three phases over 10 years. It is owned by Ho Tram Project Company, a division of Asian Coast Development Canada Ltd. The project is being designed by Steelman Partners.

“MGM Grand Ho Tram will be the first component of the Ho Tram Strip, which at US$4.2 billion and with 9,000 planned hotel rooms is the largest tourism project to receive the approval of the Vietnamese government,” said David Subotic, general director of the Ho Tram Project Company, in an interview with The Daily newspaper.

“We continue to bring our expertise in developing and operating some of the world’s leading integrated leisure complexes to the design process,” added Lloyd Nathan, president of MGM Mirage Global Gaming Development, who said the design will use “uniquely Vietnamese architecture.”