Hotel room rates saw record increases in North and Central Viet Nam, according to a survey released yesterday by the financial and accounting firm Grant Thornton Vietnam.
The 2007 Viet Nam Hotel Survey says that the average room rate increased 7.7 percent, from US$55.78 in 2005 to US$60.06 per room per night in 2006.
The average room rate rose 21.1 percent in the north and 15.7 percent in central regions, while the south experienced no change.
Last year the average occupancy and room rate of five-star hotels in Viet Nam were 73.1 percent and US$69.06 per night, respectively. North Viet Nam remained the market leader in terms of occupancy with over 70 percent in 2006.
The ratio of net income to revenue of four and five-star hotels was 21.1 percent and 39.7 percent respectively. This is much higher than the 0.4 percent experienced by three-star hotels.
Room sales made up more than 60 percent of total revenues in both 2005 and 2006.
Last year, business travelers accounted for 22.7 percent of the 3.6 million international arrivals in Viet Nam, with tourists accounting for 59.9 percent.
Guest analysis results taken from the survey indicate that Viet Nam is becoming a more appealing destination for Asians and Europeans.
Reservations via the internet, travel agents and tour operators increased from 44.76 percent in 2005 to 57.35 percent in 2006 (as a percentage of room sales). A significant decrease occurred in direct reservations, from 41.21 percent to 29.8 percent.
The survey says that there are an increasing number of local tourists who can afford luxury hotel rooms. In order to become a booming tourist destination, welcoming a targeted six million international visitors, 25 million local tourists and revenues of US$5 billion by 2010, Viet Nam needs to build more three to five-star hotels to offer 28,000 more rooms.
Grant Thornton conducted its survey in 29 three to five-star hotels with a total of 3,946 rooms in different cities of the three main regions of the country during 2005 and 2006.
The third survey by the firm serves as an overview of the hotel industry and reports how Vietnamese hotels are performing.
