Luxury hotel room prices see a sharp fall

Average prices of high-class hotel rooms in Vietnam fell by 31.9 per cent in 2009, according to figures released on June 8th by Grant Thornton Vietnam.
The firm believes that the global economic crisis had a long term and considerable impact on tourism and hotel sectors in Vietnam and across the world.
Especially, five-star hotels were hit hard as tourists tended to cut down their spending during their tours and rich people seemed to travel less.
However, the survey shows that proceeds from other tourist services like restaurants, spa, banquets and conferences rose 8.2 per cent. As a result, hotels still maintained their incomes in 2009.
Figures also points out that, while the number of international visitors to Vietnam fell, the number of domestic tourists sharply increased.