Investors pour money into hotel projects

The 2017 annual tourism report showed that the number of guest rooms for travelers increased significantly by 88,000 last year. There were 25,000 accommodation establishments with 508,000 rooms.

Investors now mostly pour capital into 3-5-star hotels. By the end of the last year, 3-5-star hotels were available in 56 out of 63 cities/provinces. There were 882 hotels with 104,000 rooms of this kind across the country. 

The number of rooms and growth rates of 4-5-star hotels were nearly the same – 33,764 rooms and 14.5 percent growth for 4-star hotels, and 34,444 rooms and 14.6% growth for 5-star hotels.

The number of 3-star hotel rooms was nearly the same, 34,332, but this represented a lower growth rate, just 11.1 percent.

As predicted, coastal areas were the most attractive destinations for foreign travelers, which explains why the areas have the highest room occupancy rate of up to 70%.

Meanwhile, the hotels in the north reported the occupancy rate of 61%-65%. The figure is even lower, 50% only, in other northern provinces.

Hotels all have been prospering with high growth rates thanks to the high number of foreign tourists. Vietnam last year received 12.9 million foreign travelers, an increase of 29.2% over the year before, and 73.2 million domestic travelers, up by 18.1%.

A report showed that in 2017, the total spending of each traveler was US$1,171. Of this, the expenses to rent accommodations amounted for the highest proportion, 33.5%. 

Meanwhile, travelers only spend 23.9% on food, 17.3% on shopping and 12.7% on travel.

A report on 4-5-star hotels and resorts released by Grant Thorton also showed impressive figures about the hotel market. The average hotel room occupancy rate increased by 5.3%, and the room rate by 2.8% to US$89.3-US$91.8 per night.

Condotel, homestay on strong rise

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) cited a report as showing that 22,000 condotels were marketed in 2017 and 12,500 were sold.

It is expected that the condotel move would continue this year. Phu Quoc Island is an emerging destination for investors with a series of projects under the development.

A project, covering an area of 87 hectares, with 10,000 condotels, is expected to be on sale in mid-October.

There are now 1,763 homestays with 12,948 rooms, accounting for 10% of total accommodation units and 3.4% of total rooms. The figure will continue rising as the central region and Mekong Delta encourage people to develop homestays.