Published:  09:03 Tuesday - January 22, 2013

The current number of tourist accommodation facilities nationwide is only enough to serve 42.2 million local and foreign tourists this year, but Vietnam is still in need of more three- to five-star hotels to cater to the growing number of visitors, a tourism official said.<br>

A view of Sea Links Resort in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province.

Vietnam currently has 13,500 tourist accommodation facilities with some 285,000 rooms, said Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

The average occupancy rate at hotels nationwide reached 58% last year, and the current number of rooms is sufficient for this year. However, as hotels are scattered, many provinces do not have enough rooms for tourists in the peak travel season.

The number of high-quality hotels in Danang City and Khanh Hoa Province is growing strongly, but other major tourism areas are lacking accommodation facilities.

“Therefore, we need to develop more hotels. We want to call for investments in three- to five-star hotel projects in key tourism areas such as Phu Quoc Island and Central Vietnam,” Tuan told the Daily on Tuesday.

Danang City, Binh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces were highlights of Vietnam’s tourism last year, with many resorts and hotels constructed and put into operation. So far, Vietnam has had 57 five-star hotels with over 14,000 rooms, 147 four-star hotels with over 18,000 rooms and 335 three-star hotels with nearly 24,000 rooms.

According to Tuan, local investors are owners of most hotel projects while foreign ones are known for large-scale projects.

Vietnam expects to welcome 7.2 million international tourists and 35 million local tourists this year, up 5.15% and 7.69% from last year respectively. Besides, tourism revenues are expected to reach VND190 trillion, rising by 18.75%.

In related news, the profit of the hotel sector in HCMC last year declined due to increasing input costs such as high electricity, water and fuel prices. In addition, tourists’ length of stay also reduced slightly from 2011, affecting the revenue, according to the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The business efficiency of three- to five-star hotels in HCMC last year is not as high as that of previous years, with the average room rate rising by only 1.5% to around VND1.986 million (US$95.5) per night and the average occupancy rate dropping by 2.3 percentage points to 68.7% compared to 2011.

Source:Vietnamnet