Currents of political change have swept away economic barriers in key
countries around the world, kindling new market opportunities for hotel
owners and investors globally. So altered is the investment landscape that
hotel markets once firmly shuttered are today among those exciting the
most interest.
| The Russian Hospitality Industry - A Market Economy Evolves |
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To generate hard currency after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba has opted to accelerate development of the country's largest export industry tourism. President Fidel Castro has been forced to seek joint venture arrangements to develop tourism infrastructure, the success of which is still in question. But harsh sanctions contained in the recently-passed Helms-Burton legislation in the U.S. Congress puts foreign investment in Cuba's hospitality industry at risk, if that law is fully implemented.
Gn the other side of the globe, Vietnam has been described as the next "Asian Tiger," as a flood of investment washes ashore, bringing economic growth to a level near 10 percent last year. Hotel development will be a pivotal element in the country's bid to modernize its economy in the wake of "normalization" of relations with the United States.
The future of these emerging markets poses questions for hotel industry investment and expansion in the midst of a historic transformation in political and economic structures. This special report on the hospitality industries in Russia, Cuba and Vietnam has been prepared in cooperation with Arthur Andersen offices worldwide.
The report features:
The Russian
Hospitality Industry - A Market Economy Evolves
Cuba - Tourism as a
Replacement Industry
Vietnam
- An Emerging Hospitality Market in Transition.
©Arthur Andersen