Meliá lands in Mui Ne with its fifth brand in Vietnam

Meliá Hotels International has signed its first hotel under the Meliá Collection brand in Vietnam. It's called Ocaria Retreat Mui Ne, located in Mui Ne, a former fishing village turned into the country's new tourism hotspot, as Hosteltur reports.

The resort adds 156 rooms and 31 luxury villas to Meliá's Vietnamese portfolio, which already includes 22 operating hotels and six under development. The company calls the move a "strategic step" in its evolution.

My take: Meliá knows how to read the map. Vietnam is booming as a destination, and Mui Ne, with its golden beaches and iconic Red Dunes, looks set to be the next hotel investment hotspot. Betting there with a collection brand, not the standard flag, is smart: it stakes a claim in the upscale segment before the resort fills up with competitors. The challenge will be air connectivityAir connectivityAir connectivity is the network of routes, frequencies and destinations that link an airport or a region with the rest. More frequencies and direct links mean more tourists, more business and less reliance on connecti... and training local staff to meet those standards. If they crack that, they've got a gem.