Vietnam’s hotel and resort market will see sustained or even accelerated growth in 2017, according to Alternaty, a real estate service company.

According to the company, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh and Phu Quoc will receive huge investment in the sector. Investors should be prepared for an upcoming drop in demand, despite the growing number of tourists to the localities.

Hotel mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities were limited in 2016, with the transactions of InterContinental Asiana Saigon and Duxton HCM City among the highlights. Rudolf Hever, executive director at Alternaty, said more M&As will take place in the coming years when new projects join the market while investors will have to divest from ineffective projects.

Alternaty highlighted the growth of tourist arrivals to Vietnam, saying that Vietnam will become a popular destination thanks to many resort and hotel names at attractive prices. However, the company advised investors to use discretion to ensure sustainable development.

According to Alternaty, the sector rebound after sluggishness in 2014 and 2015 thanks to a surge in international visitors.

In 2016, Vietnam saw a year-on-year increase of 26 percent in international visitors. The highest surge was seen from China, up 51 percent, the Republic of Korea (RoK) up 39 percent, Russia 28 percent, and Thailand 26 percent.

The number of tourists from Japan, the US, Taiwan (China), and Malaysia also increased over 10 percent.

However, Vietnam relied mostly on four key markets, namely China accounting for 27 percent of Vietnam’s foreign arrivals, followed by the RoK, 15 percent; Japan, seven percent and the US, six percent, according to Alternaty.

VNA