Authorities of Hoi An Town have issued a new regulation permitting permanent residents without foreign spouses to provide homestay service for tourists.

A foreign visitor takes photos in the ancient town of Hoi An

According to a plan to develop lodging facilities in Hoi An in the 2017-2020 period, the regulation is aimed at preserving, promoting and introducing local culture, traditions, historical values and daily life of the people there.

Homestay service providers are also required to live in families with at least two generations at the time they ask for permission to operate homestays.

As for architecture, a homestay facility must have no more than two floors with ancestral altars and a common room. Investors are banned from building swimming pools in the area of homestays.

In addition, homestay lodgings must have no more than seven bedrooms including no more than five for guests. Accommodations for tourists must be adjacent to the main compartment of the homeowner.

Homestay facilities in Tra Que Vegetable Village in Cam Thanh Commune must have a minimum area of 300 square meters while those in Thanh Ha Pottery Village are required to measure at least 200 square meters.

The city will prioritize homestay service development in Can Chau, Cam Nam and Thanh Ha wards, and in Tra Que Vegetable Village, An Tan Fishing Village and An Bang Seaside Village.

Duong Minh Binh, chairman of CBT Travel Company which provides consulting services to develop homestays, told the Daily that the service is becoming popular in Vietnam. In Quang Nam Province, the service is offered by not only local people but also investors from other places.

Hoi An currently has 842 lodging facilities with more than 13,200 rooms, in which 479 establishments with nearly 7,900 rooms have been put into service. Particularly, there are 322 homestay facilities with nearly 1,300 rooms but only 1,011 rooms can be used now. Hoi An annually attracts three million tourists.

SGT