A businessman, Nguyen Quang Nam, who owns seven hotels with a total of nearly 2,000 rooms in the city said that his hotel chain has seen a sharp fall in tourist numbers following the Covid-19 pandemic. He decided to sell four hotels to ease his loan repayments. “I have incurred a 30-40 percent loss on these four hotels,” he added. 

He has two more hotels for sale as he wants to invest in other areas.

According to Nam, most tourism service providers in Hoi An have been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Airfares are also on the rise which is one of the factors for the decline in visitor numbers to the city.

A branch of VietinBank in Hoi An recently announced an auction of local hotels and villas as part of the bank's efforts to clear bad debt.

Agribank has also auctioned 11 houses in Hoi An Old Town, including some which cover 340 square metres. The initial prices range from VND8.5-71.17 billion.

Deputy Head of the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Van Ba Son acknowledged that many hotels had to close due to the impact of the global economic downturn.

In the coming time, Quang Nam will build a mechanism to support MICE tourism (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions). The province will boost tourism promotion activities and help travel firms in staff training.