HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— Viet Nam's hotel sector is showing encouraging signs of progress in awareness and management of the environment as well as quality standards, according to an annual report released by Grant Thornton Vietnam yesterday.
The Vietnam Hotel Survey 2013, based on data related to three to five star hotels and resorts across Viet Nam in the 2012 fiscal year, says over 82 per cent of respondents have indicated they have an environmental plan in place.
Almost 65 per cent of the hoteliers said they were taking strong measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste and pollution (more commonly in the north than the centre and south), Kenneth Atkinson, managing partner of Grant Thornton Vietnam, told the press.
Almost 52 per cent of the respondents, especially 4 and 5-star hotels, have started providing training in the environmental aspects of hotel operations.
On the performance aspect, the report says that in 2012, the average occupancy rate and average room rates dipped lightly over 2011 to 60.2 per cent and US$90.40 respectively.
The study revealed that the ratio of food and beverage (F&B) revenues to the total increased by 1.1 per cent over 2011 to 29.1 per cent last year. Total revenues comprise room sales, food and beverage (F&B) sales and sales of other services (income from banquet, spa, conference and business centre and others).
In the same period, there was a decline of 0.6 per cent in the ratio of room sales to total revenues to 62.1 per cent.
The high-end hotel industry in Viet Nam maintained the same EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) as a percentage to sales between 2011 and 2012, at an average of 28.2 per cent, in spite of the different structures of some related costs.
The proportion of international and domestic guests in 2012 was similar in proportion to 2011, with a 0.2 per cent difference attributed to an increase in international guests.
Last year international arrivals in Viet Nam went up almost 14 per cent to 6.8 million, surpassing initial forecasts by 0.3 million.
In 2012, Asians, including Vietnamese citizens, accounted for the highest number of hotel guests at 46.7 per cent, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with the previous year.
Interestingly, 2012 also saw a significant reduction in the proportion of guests from Europe (down 5.6 per cent) and a slight decrease of 0.5 per cent from other regions.
Business travelers, individual tourists and tour groups are the three largest components of hotel guests over the last 10 years (2003 to 2012). Among these, business travelers significantly increased by 6.9 per cent, while MICE visitors decreased by 2.7 per cent in 2012 over the previous year. — VNS