Hotels take hit from economic crisis

Last year’s economic downturn had a negative impact on the tourism and hospitality industries, according to Grant Thornton Viet Nam’s annual Viet Nam Hotel Survey covering 69 three – to five-star hotels and resorts, which was released yesterday/ June 8.
Matthew Lourey, corporate finance director at Grant Thornton, said: "Hotel operators saw 2009 as an extremely difficult year in the wake of the global financial crisis. As a result, most participants suffered reductions in room rates, occupancy and profits."
Though the average room rates for high-end hotels in the country decreased by 31.9 per cent, the impact on occupancy rates was far less dramatic – just a 4.3 per cent decline overall.
Ken Atkinson, managing partner at Grant Thornton, said: "2009 was likely the most challenging year faced in recent times by the hospitality industry in Viet Nam. International arrivals decreased by over 11 per cent and room rates fell dramatically across most sectors."
When the hotels were divided based on their star-rankings, the most notable number was the 33.5 per cent decline in average room rates at five-star hotels.
While both three – and four-star hotels also saw room rates fall – by 2.9 per cent and 12.1 per cent – it was the five-star category that experienced the most pressure on pricing.
Five-star occupancy fell by an average of 6.3 per cent and four-star occupancy was down 14.1 per cent. But it actually increased by 2.1 per cent for three-star hotels showing demand moved towards the less expensive categories.
RevPAR, the standard industry measure of hotel utilisation and return, showed an overall decrease from US$68.50 in 2008 to $44.63, a 34.8 per cent fall.
The biggest decrease was seen in the five-star sector, which decreased by 37.7 per cent.
The RevPAR for four-star hotels declined by 24.3 per cent while for three-star hotels it increased by 0.9 per cent.
The very low use of online booking by guests continued last year with only 12.1 per cent of room stays attributed to internet sales.
International arrivals to the country fell by over 11 per cent. As a result of this and the positive domestic economic growth, domestic guests increased as a percentage of room nights from 19.7 per cent in 2008 to 26.3 per cent, increasing by a third year on year.
This trend was similar to that in 2008 and reflects the growing numbers of people choosing to travel within the country and stay in higher-end hotels.