The development of three- to five-star hotels are encouraged to improve the quality of accommodations. —  Photo vietnamhotel.org.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)  — The tourism sector will restrict the development of small-scale hotels and encourage the development of three- to five-star hotels in an effort to improve the quality of accommodations, according to the Viet Nam Hotel Association.

There are 601 three- to five-star hotels in the country with 62,470 guest rooms, accounting for only four per cent of the total number of accommodations nationwide, according to Le Mai Khanh, general secretary of the association.

There are 67 five-star hotels with more than 15,820 rooms, 159 four-star hotels with 20,270 rooms and 375 three-star hotels with 26,370 rooms.

The number of hotels with less than 20 rooms account for nearly 70 per cent of the total tourist accommodations.

Small-scale hotels with underdeveloped infrastructure, equipment and services hindered tourism promotion, Khanh said at a conference held on June 18.

The average employee per guest room at tourist accommodations in Viet Nam was 0.7, far below the figure of other countries in the region, she said.

Three- to five-star hotels operated with 1.15 to 1.46 employees per guest room while one- to two-star hotels operated with 0.58 to 0.85 employees per guest room.

Most employees at two-star hotels and below were unqualified and not trained in hospitality, she said.

The tourism sector hoped to increase the number of guest rooms to 580,000 by 2020, with 35-40 per cent meeting the standards of three- to five-star hotels, said Do Thi Hong Xoan, chairwoman of the association.

By 2020 the sector expects Viet Nam to welcome 10-10.5 million international tourists and 47-48 million domestic tourists, earning revenue of US$18-19 billion.

Last year, the country received 7.5 million international tourists and 35 million domestic tourists and earned VND200 trillion (US$9.4 billion). — VNS