HCMC – With the large number of new hotels sprouting up in tourism hotspots, far exceeding the demand, room occupancy rates at hotels in Vietnam have steadily declined in recent years, with data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism indicating that the average room occupancy rate fell from 57% in 2017 to 54% in 2018 and 52% in 2019.
The tourism hotspots that saw a boom in new hotels such as Danang, Khanh Hoa, Sapa and Phu Quoc saw their room occupancy rates fall sharply, sometimes to below 50%. Meanwhile, the rates in HCMC and Hanoi, where there haven’t been too many hotels operating in recent years, have been over 60%.
Some enterprises told The Saigon Times that luxury hotels have had higher room occupancy rates than budget hotels because more tourists are choosing to stay in four- or five-star hotels in Vietnam.
As a result, investors are investing more in large-scale, luxury complexes that offer comprehensive services, from accommodation and catering to leisure and sightseeing. In 2019, four- and five-star hotels saw the largest growth, with the number of new four- and five-star hotels growing by 11% and 16.2% year-on-year, respectively.
Between 2015 and 2019, the number of international tourists to Vietnam increased by 22% per year from 7.9 million to 18 million. The number of new hotels also saw a corresponding increase.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s 2019 Vietnam Tourism Report, the country had some 2,000 new tourist accommodation establishments, with 100,000 rooms put into service last year.
“The growth in international and local tourists has given a boost to tourist accommodation investments in tourism hotspots,” the administration stated in the report.
In 2019, Khanh Hoa Province had 6,000 new hotel rooms, while Danang City and Phu Quoc Province had 4,500 and 3,000 new rooms, respectively.
Between 2015 and 2019, the number of tourist accommodation establishments grew by 12% annually, from 19,000 to 30,000. The number of rooms also jumped from 370,000 in 2015 to 650,000 in 2019, including over 100,000 rooms of 484 five-star hotels and resorts.
Besides tourism hubs such as HCMC, Hanoi and Quang Ninh, more four- and five-star hotels are also being developed in Phu Quoc and the south central provinces. As of last year, 41 cities and provinces in the country had four- or five-star hotels.
By Dao Loan
