VietNamNet Bridge – The ministry of Industry and Trade is investigating a case in which a tourism company in Nha Trang allegedly forced a number of hotels to only accept Russian guests from them.

Foreign visitors in Nha Trang

Since 2013, thousands of tourists from Russia, Ukraine and CIS Countries to Khanh Hoa Province have been refused by hotels due to an exclusive contract they signed with Anh Duong Tourist Company.  

Under the contract signed between a hotel in Nha Trang City with the company, the hotel is banned from admitting foreign tourists from these countries who have not booked tours with the company.

A large number of hotels in the city are under the same contract. An undisclosed source showed that as many as 43 hotels in Nha Trang signed similar contracts with the company.

One hotel owner said they have been experiencing a low occupancy rate for a long time and that the long-term contract with the company has only hurt business.

Nha Trang is considered an attractive destination

Although the number of Russian tourists to Nha Trang has been on the increase, with 300,000 tourists expected to visit this year, some visitors are beginning to have to choose other destinations because of difficulties finding accommodation resulting from this situation.  

Nguyen Thanh Vinh, Deputy Director of a law firm, said the case shows that Anh Duong Company is taking part in anti-competitive behaviour and may have breached the Law on Competition.

The Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Competition Department Bach Van Mung has decided to conduct an investigation into the case before coming to final decision.

Source: DTriNews