Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam has decided to invest VND45 billion (US$2.8 million) in upgrading some 1,500 hotel rooms and lodging establishments to better serve the upcoming Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum scheduled to take place in the city this November.
APEC, the most important political event of Vietnam this year is expected to welcome thousands of high-ranking state leaders from East Asia and North America to Vietnam during the APEC events. Thus, the demand for hotel rooms would be on the rise at that time.
“Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan approved a list of 19 hotels in Hanoi to serve the APEC summit so we want to equip them with modern facilities such as telecommunications, satellite televisions, internet, swimming pools, tennis courts and other services to serve luxurious tourists,” an official from the city’s Tourism Department revealed.
Since the end of last year, there has been a grave shortage of luxury rooms in Hanoi, particularly during the peak international tourism season between October and April.
The average occupancy rate is often over 80 per cent in most of the city’s 4-5 star hotels. Despite room prices at premium hotels costing 10-15 per cent extra, a large number of rooms had already been booked for the first three months of 2006.
In an effort to help hotels prepare for the event as well as prevent a shortage of luxury hotels when the summit comes, the Hanoi People's Committee has passed a decision to offer favors for domestic and foreign investors who build four-and five-star hotels in the capital city.
Hanoi now has around 5,100 rooms of 3 to 5 star standard, including eight five-star hotels with 2,045 rooms and five four-star hotels with 85 rooms and 22 three-star hotels with 1,933 rooms.
In 2006, an expected number of nearly 1,000 qualified hotel rooms and dozens of high-end villas will be put into operation. However, the Hanoi’s tourism watchdog said the city needed an additional 10,000 rooms to serve conferences and international-scale political, cultural, and sports events by 2010.
In the first six months of this year, the city welcomed more than two million visitors, up 14 per cent, including 530,000 foreign arrivals, up 8 per cent, on year. It also reported total revenue from tourism of some VND3 trillion (US$189.8 million) during the period.
Hanoi has set a target of hosting 5.7 million tourists in 2006, including 1.2 foreign visitors, an increase of 22 per cent over the year 2005's target.
Capital Security
Vietnamese
