The majority of hotels and resorts have reopened

After 22 days of social isolation, hotels and resorts have been allowed to come back into operation, but still must ensure the implementation of anti-epidemic measures as prescribed. To evaluate the “post-Covid-19” business situation, Savills Hotels conducted a survey of 635 hotels and resorts in the four- and five-star segments in Vietnam.

According to the survey results, 493 accommodation establishments, equivalent to 78%, opened their doors to welcome guests. In which the majority of hotels and resorts have provided sufficient amenities, only a few establishments adopt a partial suspension strategy to cut costs. The survey also found that 22% of establishments remained shut down until international visitors return.

Mr. Mauro Gasparotti, Director of Savills Hotels Asia Pacific said, “The reopening of hotels and resorts to welcome guests is considered a courageous step for Vietnamese investors, especially. This is when compared to neighboring countries such as Thailand, where most hotels are still out of business pending the recovery of international arrivals. The majority of accommodation establishments are in HCMC and Hanoi. all are reopened to retain key personnel and avoid losing market share in case the market has a quick recovery after a pandemic.

Accommodation in the coastal market seems to be more cautious in deciding to open to visitors, typically Phu Quoc or Quang Nam, with 58% and 55% reopening rates, respectively. Business is expected to slow down in the coming months although average occupancy in the first few weeks of May has reached around 16% suggesting that the market is beginning to show signs of recovery.

This increase in capacity mainly came from tourist destinations accessible by car such as Ho Tram Long Hai, Da Lat and Ba Ria Vung Tau; in which, some locations are fully exploited at weekends because most tourists are still afraid to travel by air after the Covid-19 epidemic.

High-end and luxury hotels in big cities depend mainly on international tourists and business travelers, so capacity drops to only one digit, of which some establishments only reach 5%. .

Some accommodation properties, due to their long-term occupancy, are able to maintain capacity at a higher rate. The domestic tourist market, although accounting for 83% of total tourist arrivals in 2019, is seen as a more budget sensitive group compared to the international and business segments.

These groups of customers often choose hotels and resorts with a mid-range budget so it does not have much impact on the performance of 4 and 5-star hotels in the city. However, some high-end resorts can still attract domestic customers if they offer attractive and suitable deals, we hope this strategy will bring positive results in the period. upcoming summer vacation.

Many properties offer attractive promotions

Most hotels and resorts reopened in May with a wide variety of offers. Savills Hotels survey results show that nearly half of properties offer discounts and incentives after reopening.

High-end accommodation establishments often offer incentives such as providing attractive service packages, free services such as food, transportation, etc. to attract tourists in country. Reducing room rates and combining many attractive deals is considered a good strategy to help accommodation establishments improve their competitiveness to anticipate the recovery of the tourism market in the coming time.

Mr. Mauro commented, “The sharp decline in tourist arrivals has caused the average room rate in the past April for accommodation facilities, especially the segment that depends on international arrivals, has decreased significantly. Specifically, the average room rate of the market in April fell 29% year-on-year, which can be seen that high-end hotels and resorts were forced to lower their room rates and expectation. market rebound after international flights and businesses resumed. ”

Survey results show that projects in coastal destinations such as Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Quang Nam and Phan Thiet offer even more attractive and competitive promotions after reopening. This is because hotels and resorts here are affected by the decline in international visitors. Therefore, the introduction of promotions during this period will help stimulate domestic tourism demand.

The meeting and conference facilities are back online

About 95% of properties that have reopened said that meeting and conference facilities serving the MICE group are ready to be put into operation. However, Mr. Mauro said, “according to representatives of accommodation establishments, demand for the MICE segment is still recorded at a low level since the reopening.

Regulations on disease prevention and control still have to be strictly enforced and businesses need to reduce the size of events and seminars. ”According to a survey by Savills Hotels, most hotels and resorts After reopening, they will provide meeting and conference facilities, in which, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are still the two main markets of this segment.

The impact of social distancing policy on construction projects

The Covid-19 pandemic, together with its anti-epidemic measures, affected almost every sector. Specifically, many real estate businesses have been facing many difficulties in meeting the project progress, mainly due to lack of materials, lack of labor and difficulties in financial arrangements. .

Savills Hotels has also surveyed and studied the impact of the pandemic on projects that are under construction or coming into operation. Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest future supply in Southeast Asia, with an impressive compound annual growth rate of 20% over the past three years.

According to Savills Hotels, there are 49 resort real estate projects in the 4 & 5-star segments in key resort destinations * that are under construction and are expected to come into operation in 2020, adding Additional 16,900 rooms for the market. The survey shows that 53% of these projects, although somewhat delayed compared to the original scheduled progress, are still rushing to finalize the final steps to promptly open their doors this year.

The remaining 23 projects have postponed completion time through 2021, of which, more than 60% are expected to be completed in the first quarter and second quarter of 2021, the rest still have no specific time to complete. Most of the projects that are behind schedule (90%) are concentrated in the coastal area.

Mr. Mauro Gasparotti commented, “The active accommodation facilities are affected more heavily by the social gap policy and the Covid-19 epidemic prevention measures compared to projects in the planning process. Investors seem to have a longer-term view when facing the difficulties of short-term social gap.

We do not exclude the possibility that future progress of these projects could be affected by the effects of the epidemic on the global economy. However, so far, most of the projects are still being implemented. As for the launch of new projects, the Investors of the Second House project and Condotel have pushed back the launch schedule to wait for domestic demand to recover.

We expect the launch of a number of outstanding projects this year such as JW Marriott Danang, Regent Phu Quoc or Zannier Bai San Ho will contribute to affirm Vietnam’s potential in the development of a holiday destination. More advanced maintenance in the coming time. “