Strategic investors’ engagement helps promote Việt Nam’s tourism growth

Golden Bridge in Đà Nẵng, built by Sungroup. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Thanks to the investment of domestic and foreign investors in tourism infrastructure, especially resort real estates, poor rural areas have been turned into enchanted destinations for tourists, making Việt Nam more attractive to investors.

Boasting 3,260km of coastline with about 400 beaches and thousands of natural landscapes and relic sites across the country, Việt Nam is an ideal place for strategic investors such as SunGroup, Vingroup, FLC and VinaCapital.

Many modern hotel chains meeting international standards have been built, mostly in popular tourist attractions in Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng, Nha Trang, Phú Quốc, HCM City and Hạ Long.

Meanwhile, many reputable international brands such as Accor, Mariott, Hyatte, IHG, Four Seasons, and Archipelago have marked their presence in Việt Nam, contributing to enhancing the governance capacity and tourism service quality of the country.

According to Dr. Phan Hữu Thắng, former Director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, foreign direct investment (FDI) in tourism and resort real estate has been helpful for Việt Nam from the first years of opening and integration, with the development of a system of high-end resorts and hotels.

In the last 20 years, investment in tourism accommodation has boomed. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the number of accommodations in Việt Nam increased from 12,500 facilities in 2010 to 33,330 in 2022, with 667,000 rooms. As of the end of 2022, Việt Nam had 215 five-star hotels with 72,000 rooms, and 334 four-star hotels with 45,000 rooms.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Real Estate Association (VNREA), the country is home to 239 tourism real estate projects with a total value of VNĐ681.8 trillion, or about US$30 billion.

Sử Ngọc Khương, Senior Director of Savills Việt Nam, said that despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism real estate in Việt Nam is still an attractive segment for investors, where they can find opportunities to join the Vietnamese market.

In reality, amid the difficult situation in the real estate sector, foreign investors, especially those from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong (China), have still shown great attention to resort real estate, especially in the south central coastal region. Many big names such as Mandarin Oriental, JW Marriott, M Gallery, Le Meridien, Wink Hotels and The Ascott Limited are likely to launch their projects in the region.

According to CBRE, Đà Nẵng drew 10 projects as of the end of 2022. Bình Thuận expects more than 5,000 vacation villas by 2025, while Phú Yên will provide more than 72 villas and hotel rooms to the market by 2026. Experts held that in 2024, the accommodation occupation rate will recover to the pre-pandemic level of 63 per cent.

According to Hà Văn Siêu, Vice Director of the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), this year, the tourism sector aims to serve about eight million foreign visitors and 102 million domestic tourists, earning about VNĐ650 trillion ($27.71 billion).

The sector plans to announce the Việt Nam tourism planning for the 2021-30 period with a vision to 2025 right after it is approved. It has implemented a marketing strategy until 2030, along with a project to strengthen the application of new technologies in developing smart tourism and turning tourism into a spearhead economic sector of the country. A community-based tourism project is also underway, said Siêu.