Investment in high-end hotel service escalatesBy Minh Tam A view of the Hotel Majestic Saigon situated at the corner of Dong Khoi and Ton Duc Thang streets in HCMC - PHOTO: SAIGONTOURIST HCMC – The country has seen an escalation in investment in luxury hotels thanks to the rising number of tourists, according to audit and financial consulting firm Grant Thornton Vietnam. Citing data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in a 2018 survey on the hotel service, released on July 10, the firm pointed out that in 2017, Vietnam had an additional 79 operational hotels of three to five stars, 10 of them meeting five-star standards, taking the total number of three-to-five-star hotels to 101,400, up 10% against 2016. Trinh Kim Dung, advisory services manager of Grant Thornton Vietnam, told the Saigon Times that the supply of rooms in three-to-five-star hotels rose by 10% over two consecutive years, which put pressure on tourist attractions and room prices. The high-end … [Read more...] about Investment in high-end hotel service escalates
Hotel services
Hotel room rates slashed amid low occupancy
Hotel room rates slashed amid low occupancy By Dao Loan - The Saigon Times Daily Staffers of a hotel are busy arranging guests’ luggage in this fi le photo. Many hotels say they are struggling with falling occupancy amid slowing travel demand - Photo: Dao Loan HCMC – A slew of hotels in HCMC, one of the country’s key destinations for international tourists, has pushed down room rates to attract guests as low occupancy has severely affected their revenues. In the first week of May, occupancy at many high-end hotels plunged sharply over the same period last year. A popular business hotel on Dong Khoi Street in the city’s downtown recorded an occupancy rate of 50-60%. A five-star hotel in District 5 even faced a lower rate, at a mere 36%. Nguyen Anh Vu, general director of Majestic Hotel, a unit of Saigontourist Holding Company, said his hotel’s occupancy in April dropped 11% year-on-year. In 2010 and 2011, even in the off-season, the hotel never witnessed … [Read more...] about Hotel room rates slashed amid low occupancy
Vietnam determined to lower hotel service fees to attract more tourists
The hotel service fee now makes up 20 percent of the domestic tour fee, which is one of the most important reasons behind the weak competitiveness of domestic tours in comparison with the outbound tours to Thailand and Cambodia. Hotels.com, a website on the hotels in Asia Pacific in March 2012 released a report saying that the hotel room rate in Vietnam was the lowest in South East Asia. However, the hotel service fee accounts for a bigger proportion in the tour fee structure than in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia. On average, a traveler only has to pay 50-60 dollars to spend a night at a five star hotel in Cambodia, 100-120 dollars in Thailand, but he would have to pay 200 dollars in Vietnam. The big gap in the hotel service fee, plus the high airfares both have made domestic tours more expensive than the outbound tours to neighboring countries. Nguyet Nga, a senior executive of Saigontourist, said though the airlines have reduced the airfares by 49 percent, the … [Read more...] about Vietnam determined to lower hotel service fees to attract more tourists
Saigontourist focuses on high-grade hotel projects
Grand Hotel being transformed into five-star facility HCMC - Saigontourist Holding Company deemed hotel services an important business field, along with travel and restaurant, and will place its focus on developing and upgrading three- to five-star hotel projects. Such a business target was mentioned at the conference to review the company's business in 2011 held on Wednesday in HCMC. The country's leading hospitality company is active in several fields, including hotel-resort, restaurant, travel services, export-import, transport, construction, office leasing, tourism training, and foodstuff production and processing. Each year, the company spends some VND1 trillion, or some US$450 million, in these areas. Tran Hung Viet, general director of Saigontourist, said the firm would invest in its core fields, namely hotel, tourism, and restaurant services, which are bringing in good business results. "Between 2012 and 2014, we will prioritize investments in these three fields, … [Read more...] about Saigontourist focuses on high-grade hotel projects
Vietnam lacks three-star hotels
Investors have been told that they can find bigger profit if they have three-star hotels, because the demand has been increasing rapidly. According to travel firms, 60-75 percent of domestic travelers choose to stay at three-star hotels. As for foreign tourists, 50-55 percent choose four-star hotels and 30 percent choose five-star hotels for their convalescence purposes. Meanwhile, those, who want to have discovery tours, regularly choose three-star hotels. The Hoa Binh travel firm said that three-star hotels are the choice of 70-80 percent of Vietnamese individual tourists who take domestic tours. The proportion is 60 percent at Vietravel and TST Tourism, and 50 percent at Saigon tourist. Especially, the figures are very high at 65 percent at Du Lich Viet and VYC, and 75 percent at Lua Viet. Three-star hotels provide barely enough facilities When asked why tourists prefer three-star hotels, travel firms said that despite the current big economic difficulties, Vietnamese … [Read more...] about Vietnam lacks three-star hotels