Tourism companies, resorts, operators of tourism attractions and others are complaining about sharp hikes in land rent.

Many in HCM City, Binh Thuan Province, Ha Noi and other places say they have also been affected by unreasonable methods of calculating the rents, which has rendered them helpless.

A number of resorts in Binh Thuan are unable to pay the high rents, leading to their bank accounts being frozen.

They said the recent rent hikes caused by an increase in government land-use fees mean they now account for 25 – 30 per cent of their turnover.

It is unfair to demand the same rent for both land with buildings and open spaces, they said, pointing out that greenery normally accounts for half or more of the total area of a resort.

The land use fee has been revised upwards for several years but the Government agreed to lower the land rents applicable in 2013-2014 for resorts.

According to Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association, land rents were adjusted upwards eight to 10 times in 2011-12 alone.

Rents for land rose from VND192 million in 2010 to VND1.47 billion in 2012 at Sai Gon Mui Ne Resort; from VND167.5 million to over VND1.28 billion at Palmira Beach Resort; from VND114.6 million to more than VND877 million at Coco Beach Resort; and from VND84 million to VND672 million at Muine Bay Resort.

The Government approved a 50 per cent cut in land rents in 2013-14, and a further reduction if it was still twice the 2010 rate.

"High land rents and unpredictability have affected tourism enterprises," Khoa told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon (Sai Gon Economic Times) newspaper.

"A majority of tourism enterprises in Binh Thuan Province have been on tenterhooks due to the high land rents."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the critical situation facing tourism firms have been reported to relevant authorities and the ministry has proposed measures to help tourism firms to cope with difficulties, including a 50 per cent rent reduction for open spaces.