Tony Chisholm appointed General Manager of Dalat Hotels

Danao International Holdings Limited (DIHL) has begun its strategic implementation of a plan to reinvigorate Dalat and make it an international travel destination.

Earlier this month, Accor's Tony Chisholm moved to Dalat to assume the role of general manager at the Sofitel Dalat Palace, a French colonial-style retreat in the Central Highlands that has been a fixture on the country's luxury lodging landscape for almost 90 years.

"The Dalat Palace ranks as one of the finest hotels in Vietnam, and in all of Southeast Asia," said Baron Ah Moo, CEO of DIHL. "Our challenge is to take an already historic property and make it legendary. Tony Chisholm will be instrumental in that effort."

Chisholm, who possesses more than a decade of hotel management experience, most recently served as resident manager of the Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore. During his two-year tenure, he helped the property win "Best Venue for a Corporate Meeting" at the 2006 Singapore Business Events Awards.

The appointment of Chisholm is the first in a series of moves that DIHL expects to carry out in Dalat, where two more of the company's properties-the lauded Dalat Palace Golf Club and the 144-room Novotel Dalat Hotel-are located.

"Before the Lang Bian Hotel [now the Palace] was built, Dalat was virtually unknown," said Chisholm, who will run both hotels. "An entire town grew up around the Palace and its sister property, and I get to help carry on their tradition. It's the opportunity of a lifetime."

The Sofitel Dalat Palace was built in 1922 as the anchor to the fledgling colonial resort of Dalat, 300 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Twelve years later, the Novotel Dalat (originally known as Hotel du Parc) was erected as an annex to the Palace.

In 1991, Danao International Holdings initiated a multi-million-dollar resuscitation of the historic structures. The original vision for Danao, and the revival of its current assets, was stimulated by Larry Hillblom, the American tycoon whose surname is the "H" in the express delivery company DHL.

Chisholm's latest undertaking is not his first in Vietnam. Prior to Singapore, he was director of operations at the Sofitel Plaza Saigon for two years. 

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