Hanoi identifies luxury hotel sites

HANOI Hanoi allocates more sites to develop luxury hotels at prime locations over the next five years in an effort to boost tourism to the country’s capital.

Local media reported that the Municipal People’s Committee confirmed some 20,000 rooms should be built in the city’s downtown areas to keep pace with tourism growth.

The city will have to attract investors to build luxury hotels, but it is identifying potential sites where building permission would be granted.

Prime locations for luxury hotels are in Hoan Kiem district include No 22-32 Ly Thai To St, 22-24 Hang Bai St and 39 Hai Ba Trung St.

Also a hotel at No 1 Ba Trieu Street and Hoa Binh Hotel on Ly Thuong Kiet St will  be upgraded.

Other hotels sites are in Dong Da, Nam Tu Liem, Ba Dinh and Dong Anh districts.

Hanoi People’s Committee chairman, Nguyen Duc Chung, said adding more luxury hotels is necessary to develop tourism into a spearhead industry of the capital city.

“Hanoi encourages investors to develop luxury hotels, as there is a shortage of hotel rooms across the city,” he said.

Vietnam Architecture Association office manager, Pham Thanh Tung, added that it was essential to build more luxury hotels to boost tourism, however, the city should not move ahead too quickly.

“The city needs to gather information about privately-owned boutique hotels as a basis for making decisions about constructing luxury hotels…developing luxury hotels must include special attention to the city’s infrastructure, as well as transportation.”

Hanoi targets 30 million tourists by 2020, mainly domestic visitors with around 5.7 million international tourists. The annual growth rate should be around 8% to 10%.

Total revenue from tourism in 2020 is projected at USD5.3 billion, up 15% to 17% annually. Occupancy rates at hotels are expected to average 60% to 65%.

In the first half of the year, tourist arrivals to the capital stood at 11.02 million, up 33% year-on-year, of which domestic arrivals stood at 8.97 million, up 6% year-on-year.

Total revenue from tourism was USD1.4 billion, an increase of 24% year-on-year.

This year, Hanoi has targeted 21.17 million tourists, including 3.8 international tourists, and earnings of USD2.69 billion.

sourced:ttrweekly.com