HCM City (VNA) - The tourism andhospitality sectors are predicted to develop rapidly and attract plenty ofinvestment, based on their strong growth in recent years, according to experts.

Ngo Hoai Chung, Vice Chairman of the VietnamNational Administration of Tourism, said tourism has been growing strongly inrecent years and increased its proportion of GDP.

It accounted for 6 percent of GDP in 2016compared to 1.76 percent in 1994, he told a seminar held on the sidelines ofthe Food & Hotel exhibition held in HCM City late last month.

The sector’s development has also enabled otherindustries to develop, he said.

Vietnam received more than 4.2 millioninternational visitors in the first four months of the year, a year-on-yearincrease of 30.3 percent.

“The tourism industry has attracted lots ofinvestment for developing products, services and facilities, which has changedthe appearance of tourism destinations and led to an increasing number ofmodern, high-quality hotels and services.”

The number of hotels and guest houses in Vietnamhas increased sharply in recent years, with the number of rooms going up from69,000 in 2001 to 420,000 last year, he said.

According to Do Thi Hong Xoan, Chairwoman of theVietnam Hospitality Association, the kinds of accommodation are becomingincreasingly diverse.

Besides hotels and motels, they now include manyothers such as resorts, tourist apartments and villas.

Some 45 percent of them are situated in thenorth, 29 percent in the central and Central Highland regions and 25 percent inthe south.

Large hotels are mainly located in tourist centresand coastal areas such as Hanoi and HCM City.

Chung said the industry expected to attract17-20 million foreign visitors and 82 million domestic visitors by 2020,contribute more than 10 percent of the country’s GDP and generate four millionsjobs.

The tourism sectors revenues were expected toreach 35 billion USD by then, he said.

“To meet those goals, the country is expected tohave 580,000 rooms by 2020 and 900,000 by 2030.

“Investment in the hospitality sector isexpected to continue to increase at tourism centres, especially in coastalareas, with a focus on the high-end and three- to five-star segments.”

Many investors told the seminar that they planto open four- or five-star hotels in tourism cities this year, including HCMCity, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc.

Tran Hung Viet, General Director ofSaigontourist, said: “We are planning to build some hotels in HCM City to meetthe increasing demand of tourists. But since very little vacant land isavailable in central areas like Districts 1 and 2, Saigontourist is looking forsuitable places to build hotels.”

Despite its great potential, experts said toattract more investors Vietnam needs to further improve its policies andinfrastructure and create an equal business environment for enterprises. -VNA