VietNamNet Bridge - Although room rates plummeted, the hotel service industry of Vietnam still grossed VND338,000 billion (equivalent to US$15 billion) in 2015, higher than $10.75 billion in 2014 thanks to the strong domestic of local guests, according to Grant Thornton.

A hotel in HCM City.

A survey of Vietnam’s hotel service industry by Grant Thornton released on July 6 shows that despite the reduced growth in international arrivals to Vietnam in 2015 compared to that in 2014, the number of domestic visitors rose strongly to hit 57 million, an increase of approximately 50%.

This is the 13th survey of the hotel service industry in Vietnam by this firm, with 4- and 5-star hotels accounting for over 20%.

According to the survey, the average room rate in the year fell 11.3% across the country. Specifically, the group of 4-star hotels witnessed a fall of 17.2%, from $87 a day $72.3. However, the occupancy rates increased by 1.2% (1.6% for 5 star hotels).

The revenue per room decreased continuously for the last 3 years, down by about 8.6%, from $59.3 in 2014 to $54 in 2015. This is an important index used to measure the sector's profitability and room efficiency.

Grant Thornton said that 2015 was a difficult year for the hotel industry in Vietnam caused by the impact of the crisis of some major economies and geopolitical factors as well as issues of security and safety of global tourism industry.

In the first 6 months of 2016, international visitors to Vietnam reached 4.7 million, up 21.3% over the same period last year.

Currently the turnover of the Vietnam’s hotel service sector is relatively low compared to other countries in the region. The reduction of businessmen to Vietnam is also one of the issues. Particularly, the human resources for the hotel service industry are still in shortage. The market needs 40,000 workers but currently there are only 15,000 people trained in this sector.

General manager of Alma Osis Long Hai Hotel - Carmen Marienberg said, more 4 star hotels have opened in Vietnam and this shows that the source of supply not only increases in volume but also in quality. The new international brands have been coming to Vietnam, creating tremendous resource for this market.

"You have everything but you need to better manage and promote. Notably, the budget to improve the tourism, hotel service industry of Vietnam is less than that of other countries in the region," she commented.

In 2015 Vietnam welcomed 7.9 million international tourists, lower than the expected number of 8.3 million of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. The growth rate of international tourists reached 0.9%, lower than the 4% of 2014.

Nguyen Quynh