Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The hospitality market in Vietnam,which has been an attractive sector for investors over the past few yearsthanks to its consistent growth, is expected to continue to expand this year,partly due to global trends, according to Savills Hotels Asia Pacific.

Information technology (IT) is one prominent trend that hashad a tremendous impact on the tourism industry. Smart phones, ArtificialIntelligence, electronic payments and social media will continue to haveincalculable impacts on the travel industry.

Demographic and consumer changes, influenced by globaltrends, will increase travel demand and inspire the creation of new products tocatch these trends.

“We often encourage developers to study new trends andproducts that have not had much presence in the Vietnamese market such asbranded residence, select service hotels or experience-oriented resorts inorder to diversify accommodation choices and capture the needs of a newgeneration of travellers,” said Mauro Gasparotti, the Director of SavillsHotels Asia Pacific.

“We also hope to see more green projects and sustainabledevelopment in the future, which will become a very important factor andcriteria for the end users,” he added.

“Finally, some previously calm destinations such as Hue and MuiNe are expected to return to compete with the coastal tourism markets with manynew development opportunities. Overall, we still have a positive outlook on Vietnam’shospitality real estate market this year and look forward to positive outcomesnext year.”

Vietnam is in a good position to capture growthopportunities. In 2019, Savills Hotels Asia Pacific predicts tourism willcontinue to grow but at a lower rate than in the previous year. 

There will be a new wave of branded properties coming on linesuch as Movenpick Cam Ranh and Melia Ho Tram, which could put these locationson the international tourism map.

This year will see the opening of many condotel projects withenormous inventories coming to the market. Condotels are good products onlywhen they are well studied, planned and executed, according to Savills HotelsAsia Pacific. These projects could damage the market if they are poorly plannedand controlled by depressing room rates and occupancy in the medium term,especially at beach locations.

Popular destinations like HCM City, due to limited futuresupply, are expected to maintain stable levels of performance.

Last year was excellent for Vietnam’s real estate market withpositive signs coming from all sectors, among which hospitality stood out asone of the main sectors drawing enormous attention from international and localdevelopers and investors. Many projects are being planned, developed and openedwith the presence of new brands and products.

The good performance in 2018 was due to several factorsincluding infrastructure improvements, new international routes, policiesencouraging tourism and contributions from the private sector.

Vietnam’s hospitality industry is witnessing rising interestfrom international and local investors. However, transactions have been limitedwithin the operating asset segment due to the scarcity of inventory and theunwillingness of owners to dispose properties.-VNS/VNA