Why Vietnam is the country of the moment

The country is seeing a 65% increase in pipeline of rooms as compared to last January.

Sapa in northwest Vietnam is one of the country’s tourism focuses for the year.

Vietnam will be one of the hot markets to watch out for in 2017, according to speakers at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) at Pan Pacific Singapore on Wednesday (March 15).

The country experienced a 27% growth in tourist arrivals last year, and continues to see a surge in hotel deal signings in the year ahead, highlighted Robert V. R. Hecker, managing director, Pacific Asia of Horwath HTL, who opened the conference.

Sharing his sentiment was Jesper Palmqvist, area director Asia Pacific of STR, who noted the country’s 8% growth in RevPar last year, and is “bullish [about the market] despite the large pipeline of rooms”.

The over-20,000 rooms under construction (as of January) represent a 65% increase when compared to the same period last year.

At present, Vietnam has 106 five-star hotels, 231 four-star hotels and 447 three-star hotels, which contribute a total of 91,942 rooms in Vietnam, according to Vu Thi Binh, vice-chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association at ITB Berlin last week.

The increase in tourist arrivals comes on the back of the government’s push to encourage investments in tourism infrastructure such as ports and hub terminals, improvements in air connectivity, and the easing of visa requirements as well as the launch of an e-visa facility for selected markets.

Vietnam is targeting to receive 11.5 million international visitors in 2017, and 15 million by 2020.

The country experienced a 27% growth in tourist arrivals last year, and continues to see a surge in hotel deal signings in the year ahead, highlighted Robert V. R. Hecker, managing director, Pacific Asia of Horwath HTL, who opened the conference.

Source: Travelweekly Asia.