Hanoi luxury hotels reports record-low occupancy rate

Three to five-star hotels in Hanoi are facing difficulties due to lack of international tourists amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Hanoi Daewoo Hotel

According to Hanoi Department of Tourism, on National Day employees had only one day off so Hanoi didn't have many tourists. Most of the accommodation facilities had to reduce prices by 40-60% because of the lack of customers.

The accommodation prices at Pan Pacific dropped by 40% to VND1.9m (USD82) a night for a deluxe room. Intercontinental Hanoi Landmark 72 reduced prices to VND4m a night and Metropole also reduced prices to VND1.16m a night. However, the occupation rate at one to five-star hotels was only 10.6%, a decrease of 53.4% compared to the same period last year.

Reports from the district and communal people's committees also show that as of August 31, 950 facilities in Hanoi had to suspend operation and 16,000 people were unemployed. Three to five-star hotels fell into a crisis since the majority of their customers are foreign tourists.

Statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam show that Vietnam received 16,300 international visitors in August. Most of them are experts from China and South Korea working on various projects in Vietnam and students from Laos and Cambodia. The total number of tourists dropped by 98.9% compared to the same period last year as Vietnam hasn't been reopened for tourism.

Vietnam received a total of 3.8 million international visitors in the first eight months of 2020, a decrease of 66.6% on last year. Power consumption rate in shopping malls also dropped sharply.

The revenues in the tourism sector in the first eight months are estimated at VND13.1trn (USD563m), a decrease of 54.4% on last year. Stimulus programmes to boost tourism had little effect compared to the impact of Covid-19 as large numbers of tours and cultural events were cancelled.

Khanh Hoa Province saw the largest drop in tourism revenues with a 76.6% drop, HCM City is in the second place with a 72% drop. Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Quang Nam provinces follow with 67.2% and 66.5% respectively.