Published:  21:40 Thursday - March 07, 2013

Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association, said investors have continuously poured investments into the province’s hotel-resort segment over the past years, leading to a strong rise in the number of accommodation facilities.

A tourist stays at Sealinks Resort in Binh Thuan Province’s Phan Thiet City.
The province currently has around 8,000 hotel rooms, not to mention resort
villas of tourism property projects - Photo: Dao Loan

Khoa said that the number of 8,000 rooms did not include resort villas of tourism property projects which also supply a big number of rooms.

In 2012 alone, Binh Thuan had over 1,000 new hotel rooms, up 12.5% from the previous year compared to the 10% rise in the number of tourists coming to Binh Thuan. Although there were periods when hotel rooms in the province were fully booked, the average occupancy rate reached only 58% in 2012.

It is estimated that Binh Thuan will have 500-700 new rooms put into operation this year.

“The average rate of 58% per year still brought in profits for investors, but with the current investment growth, the chances of making profits will be reduced. Without careful considerations, Binh Thuan will face oversupply of hotel rooms,” Khoa said.

According to Khoa, what Binh Thuan needs to more focus on is to develop tourism services and products. There have been investors registering to invest in entertainment and sport projects, but no big projects have been implemented.

“The point is that Binh Thuan has yet to offer sufficient incentives for suchprojects. In addition, projects are also encountering economic difficulties and the slow site clearance and compensation,” he said.

According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province welcomed over 3.14 million tourists last year with tourism revenues amounting to VND4.358 trillion, or roughly US$205 million.

SGT