Hotels lose clients because of electricity cuts

A lot of seaside Nha Trang hotels complain that they have lost many clients because of regular electricity cuts.

The owner of a three-star hotel in Nha Trang City reported that, at this time in previous years, the hotel’s rooms were fully occupied. Now the occupancy rate is just 60 percent. He claimed that the number of clients has dropped dramatically due to regular power outages.

Many other hotels reported that electricity cuts occur once every two days.

The situation is even worse at hotels located further from the ocean. Their occupancy rate is 50 percent or lower. Except for some clients who come from a long distance and pay money in advance, most hotel guest decide to leave for Da Lat or for other hotels where there is power.

Hotels along Tran Phu road, which face the seashore, have a better situation. Yet the hotel staff admitted that they must listen to constant complaints from guests when they deliver bamboo tape fans to their rooms.

At a four-star hotel on Tran Phu Road, when the power goes out, the electric generators are not powerful enough to run air conditioners. Hotel guests scurry here and there in all directions looking for fans. “We have never seen such regular electricity cuts before, so we do not have enough fans for clients,” the receptionist acknowledged.

A four-member family left the hotel after two days, even though they intended to stay for one week, because they could not stand the heat.

The power cuts have benefited some, like taxi drivers. A driver named Tuan explained that many travelers decided to leave some hotels for others because of the power outages, so Tuan has had more customers.

The Khanh Hoa Party Provincial Committee last week sent a dispatch complaining about the regular power cuts. It thinks that Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is unfairly allocating power.

In the dispatch, the committee stated that the demand for electricity in Khanh Hoa province in general and Nha Trang in particular, is the second highest in the central region (after Da Nang), while electricity cuts occur more regularly than in some other provinces in the region.

The committee has asked to clarify EVN’s responsibility to provide power.

Deputy General Director of Khanh Hoa Electricity Company Nguyen Cao Ky maintained that the electricity shortage has led to power cuts across the whole country. Except for Hanoi, which is given priority in using power because it is the capital city, regular power cuts occur in all the other 62 provinces and cities.

“We cannot say exactly when power outages will end, because Khanh Hoa Electricity Company is just a unit at the provincial level,” Ky remarked.

EVN recently claimed that the power supply will be improved after June 25 and will return to its usual level after the first week of July. Previously, EVN promised that the power supply would return to normal after June 20.

Vnexpress

Tags: Vietnam hotels, Vietnam Tourism