It took a year to build a private tour itinerary for 2 American guests.
On February 11, a helicopter carrying two American millionaires in the financial sector, Jeff Grinspoon and Jon Thomas Foley, flew straight from Ha Giang to Gia Lam airport.
Millionaire Jeff Grinspoon is a senior financial expert ranked 76th in the list of America's Top Wealth Advisors by Forbes , currently managing total assets worth 1.9 billion USD. With this trip to Vietnam, the 2 American millionaires made very strict demands.
The tour itinerary must be unique, the experience must be safe with security measures being the top priority, the destination must be pristine but still need to have the characteristics of the local culture . These are considered "difficult" requirements and not all travel agencies in Vietnam are able to meet them.
The experience of riding a jet ski on the Nho Que River is one of the private experiences designed for the American billionaire (Photo: Provided by the unit).
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh, CEO of All Asia Vacation (AAV), a unit specializing in organizing tours to welcome billionaire groups, said that before welcoming the two guests, this unit spent about a year planning, building a scenario, and designing a separate itinerary.
One of the stops of the two millionaires is Ha Giang, a land located at the border of the Fatherland. Although famous for its pristine beauty, Ha Giang is not yet on the tourist map of the super-rich.
The reason is that this place is at a disadvantage in terms of infrastructure as there is no airport or highway. Meanwhile, billionaire guests often pay a lot of attention to time. They have strict requirements in terms of travel: Minimize road travel, guests do not want to sit in the car for more than 30 minutes, security must be ensured to the maximum. In particular, privacy must be put first.
After many calculations, the CEO of AAV came up with a "solution" by using a private helicopter to fly directly to Ha Giang. To have this schedule, the travel agency had to work very carefully with the local authorities to receive approval from the relevant ministries.
Ms. Nguyen Huyen Anh (red shirt), Director of Quang Ninh Department of Tourism, at the reception of two American millionaires at Van Don airport (Photo: Provided by the unit).
During their 3 days in Ha Giang, the two millionaire guests chose to stay at a luxury resort with a staff of nearly 100 people. The travel agency sent a team of staff from Hanoi to support them.
The guests' schedule revolved around a day's experience in Ha Giang and an evening return to the resort. During their stay, the two millionaires were satisfied and said they had traveled to many places in the world and enjoyed all kinds of services, but the pristine beauty of this land made them especially impressed.
From Ha Giang, the group of millionaires continued to move to Ha Long for the experience. The travel agency continued to use helicopters, flying directly from Ha Giang to Gia Lam airport to refuel and then continued to Van Don international airport (Quang Ninh province). This flight route was also designed and licensed specifically for the group of guests.
Mr. Hanh commented that this is one of the special things in this welcoming journey.
Mr. Jeff Grinspoon (black shirt) and Mr. Jon Thomas Foley (yellow shirt) with Mr. Hanh on a boat in Ha Long Bay (Photo: Provided by the unit).
Because Van Don airport has a great advantage due to its modernity, scale and is only less than 30 minutes away from Ao Tien port, the gateway to Bai Tu Long Bay, by road, and no unit has yet exploited individual tourist groups to come here.
Before the pandemic, this airport used to receive commercial flights carrying international passengers from China, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, but at present only operates a few domestic routes.
The airport has good facilities, 20 minutes by car from Ao Tien international port, very suitable for the specific requirements of millionaire guests.
With Ha Long Bay as a destination, guests book a luxury cruise. Although it only serves 2 people, all services must be meticulous, luxurious and unique. The guest's request is to explore pristine areas, not for the general public.
To create a different experience, the travel agency takes guests not on the traditional route. The cruise takes guests from Ao Tien port to Bai Tu Long bay and then connects to Ha Long bay.
Here, the two guests experienced pristine sandy beaches with almost no people. To have this itinerary, this travel agency had to work with local authorities. Before that, the travel agency also sent people to survey the islands and make a detailed plan.
"We have worked with the local authorities of Quang Ninh province and fortunately, the local authorities have created favorable conditions for us. This time, we took guests to explore Bai Tu Long Bay with places that are considered treasures for the luxury segment and then continued to Ha Long Bay. This is suitable for the needs of guests who want to experience a place that many people have not yet accessed," Mr. Hanh shared.
Additional services that the 2 millionaire guests experienced include kayaking, exploring Cua Van fishing village, visiting Tien Ong area, rowing in Ba Ham Lake area...
On the third day of the journey, the two American guests continued to participate in some cultural and entertainment activities on the ship, enjoying the scenery of Bai Tu Long Bay and Ha Long Bay before moving to Tuan Chau port to end the program.
Each journey is tailor-made for each customer.
In 20 years of operation, AAV has had experience welcoming many super-rich customers around the world. Mr. Hanh said that although this segment only accounts for a very small proportion of the world's population, it has a very large spending level, with extremely high criteria, each super-rich customer can spend up to 15,000 USD/day excluding airfare (nearly 400 million VND). However, satisfying this group of customers is not easy.
Customers need each experience to be as personalized as possible, not as mass-produced as the tours commonly seen on the market. Therefore, each trip must be "tailored" for each person, always ensuring creativity and difference.
The tour operator once organized private dinners on the island to serve super-rich guests (Photo: Provided by the unit).
According to this CEO, the time from coming up with an idea to creating a specific product can be considered the most time-consuming step. Mr. Hanh compares billionaire tour operators to chefs who have available ingredients, need to ask customers what they want and expect at the destination to create a tour itinerary that suits their tastes and meets them optimally.
Next, the travel agency needs to plan, survey, build products, test and test the service. The service test is done as if it were real (only without customers) and done many times.
Before the group of guests arrives, there will be a security team to conduct a pre-trial run of the service. The travel agency will do the same to check if there are any errors in the operation.
Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam is considered to have many advantages to attract this type of guest such as ensuring security and safety, having a long history of culture, rich cuisine and friendly, hospitable people. However, Mr. Hanh said that to attract super-rich guests, it is necessary to improve facilities as well as apply a separate, specific mechanism to welcome this special group of guests.
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