Viet Nam has witnessed an influx of international hotel brands and hotel management companies in the last few years, according to property consultant Savills Viet Nam.
Four Seasons is the operator of The Nam Hai resort in Hoi An ancient town
From 30 hotels with international brand names in 2010, the number had increased to 79 at the end of last year.
There has been a particularly big jump this year with recent announcements by Mandarin Oriental and Movenpick in HCM City and Best Western Premier in Quang Binh and Long Hai.
There have also been new brands entering the market in the last three years, including Ozo and X2 Vibe (Hoi An), Hilton’s Double Tree (Ha Long, Vung Tau and Ha Noi), Four Seasons (Quang Nam and Ha Noi), Oakwood (HCM City), Glow (Da Nang), and Mai House (HCM City).
Mauro Gasparotti, director of Savills Hotels Asia Pacific, said a big increase in operators’ interest in the country in the last three years has resulted in the expansion of the hospitality market.
“The number of international operators is expected to grow in the coming years along with local management companies.”
Operators are launching new brands to target all kinds of clients including millennials and health-conscious travellers, he said, adding that Viet Nam is a promising market for them to introduce focused brands since people travelling here are largely diversified.
Vietnamese investors are still new to hospitality products, but with a large amount of supply coming, there would be rapid learning for some of them and more quality assets are expected to come up, he said.
The number of international tourist arrivals in Viet Nam in the first five months of this year was 6.7 million, up 27.6 percent year-on-year, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism.
Tourism revenues are estimated at 260.2 trillion VND (11.41 billion USD), a year-on-year increase of 22.6 percent.
The strong growth of the tourism sector has also given a boost to the hospitality industry.