PERSONALITIES
WINK ’ S PIRO
MAKING MARK IN
By JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
VIETNAM
HOMEGROWN BRAND ’ S CEO IS LIVING PROOF OF THE POTENTIAL IN THIS EMERGING MARKET .
When a young , hotshot commercial real estate broker presented on career day at Michael Piro ’ s Vancouver , Canada , high school , everyone in the room turned around and said , “ Michael , that ’ s going to be you .”
As it turns out , they were right . But little did they know Piro would make his mark in Vietnam .
Coming from humble beginnings in a home with six children and working hard by the time he was 13 , Piro has hustled his way through real estate sales and fund management to become CEO of Vietnam ’ s first homegrown hotel brand , Wink Hotels . At about US $ 70,000 cost per key , the first select-service , hyperlocal lifestyle property is set to open in March and another eight are financed and under development in markets ranging from Ho Chi Minh City , Danang and Hai Phong , to Tuy Hoa , Can Tho , Ha Long and Vung Tau .
Conceived by developer Indochina Kajima , Wink is operated by Indochina Vanguard ( both joint venture companies with Indochina Capital , where Piro has toiled the past 13 years , Japanese construction giant Kajima Corp . and Vanguard Hotels respectively ). The first Wink branded hotel will be the 237-room Wink Hotel Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh City . Properties to follow include the 243-room Wink Hotel Danang Centre and a third in riverside Danang as part of a mixed-use complex along the Han River . The group plans to expand to at least 20 locations in the next five to seven years in major Vietnamese cities . Growth outside Vietnam could follow .
About 3,000 rooms are in the works and set to open by 2023 . “ The goal is to get up to 20 to 25 in Vietnam and then potentially throughout Cambodia , Laos and Myanmar — kinda build an Indochine trail with these properties ,” Piro says .
The brand is aiming for young , upwardly mobile Vietnamese who don ’ t have a lot of options at the US $ 70 price point . About 48 % of Vietnam ’ s 96 million inhabitants are under the age of 34 ; domestic tourism grew at a 22 % clip from 2014 to 2019 . While COVID-19 is still impacting travel , the virus is under control there and travel is slowly picking up . In fact , Piro said he is now on a domestic flight every week and that locals are living more freely again within the country ’ s confines .
Piro , who spoke with HOTELS from his Hanoi home , said that about 83 % of the Vietnamese hotel market is unbranded mom-and-pop “ resting houses ” with anywhere from 25 to 90 rooms . Wink ’ s aim is to consolidate that local demand with a product that speaks to locals with , among other things , tech-driven amenities , a great bed and strong shower , social public spaces , grab-and-go local food and a partnership with a co-working company .
January / February 2021 hotelsmag . com 15