Hospitality market remains bright

Viet Nam’s hotel and resort market will become increasingly attractive for tourists and developers in the future, experts from the real estate agents CB Richard Ellis Viet Nam (CBRE Viet Nam) said yesterday at its conference on the domestic hospitality market in Ha Noi.

“Better medium- and long-term investment opportunities in the hotel and resort industry are appearing in Viet Nam due to its stunning coastal areas, beautiful high altitude destinations and highly populated cities,” said Robert McIntosh, Executive Director of CBRE Hotels in the Asia Pacific Region.

“By capitalising on this unexplored country, a number of projects have been successfully completed and launched over the past years, yet Viet Nam remains an under-rated market for hospitality investment.”

However, the hospitality sector in Viet Nam was still a burgeoning industry with rapid and constant changes, he said. As a result, developers could be caught off guard and left unprepared.

The hospitality business in Viet Nam had changed since the global economic crisis with clients becoming more demanding as more options become available, said Mauro Gasparotti, CBRE Viet Nam Manager of Hospitality Service.

“New projects either under construction or near completion will have to face fiercer competition and more sophisticated clients compared with the past. Hospitality in Viet Nam is clearly advancing to a point where the market is ready for the development of more refined products targeting more refined clients,” Gasparotti said.

These changes would not necessarily imply higher prices and construction costs, but a better mix of design, quality, prices and services made possible by clear, meticulous and better informed development planning, something rarely seen before in Viet Nam, he said.

The local traveller demographic provided enormous potential for resort and hotel development, Gasparotti commented. However, Vietnamese travellers were evolving rapidly so it was important that developers of new and existing properties recognised these changes. Vietnamese clients were not the same as they were a few years ago.

“In spite of the market’s volatility, if developers and investors adapt to changes in the market and offer innovative products, I feel very positive about the medium- to long-term development of the hospitality industry in Viet Nam,” said McIntosh. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Hospitality market