Pullman Hanoi hotel. — Photo vneconomy

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Despite low occupancy rates and a drop in the number of Chinese tourists in May and June, high-end hotels in Viet Nam showed increases in room rates and revenue per room in the first half of the year, according to consulting firm Grant Thornton Vietnam.

The company said in its report released on Tuesday that RevPAR (revenue per available room) of 4-and 5-star in the first half of the year increased by 1.7 per cent compared with the growth of 4.2 per cent in the same period last year. It grew from $56.6 to $57.6.

This increase was affected by a significant rise in average room rates of 7.9 per cent, which was much higher than the 0.1 per cent increase in the first half of the year. On the other hand, the occupancy rate overall experienced a major drop of 5.7 per cent in the first half.

Compared with the performance of the first half of 2013, RevPAR of 4-star hotels significantly fell by 13.8 per cent while RevPAR of 5-star hotels continued to increase by 3.3 per cent.

An increase in RevPAR of 5-star hotels might be attributed to an increase of 5.1 per cent in average occupancy rates in the first half of the year, according to the report.

In addition, 5-star hotels in the north also experienced an increase in RevPAR by 25.8 per cent in the first six months of 2014, compared to the same period last year.

By region, the growth rate from the first half of 2013 to the first half of 2014 was 7 per cent for the north, 10.7 per cent for the central region and the Highlands, and 8.8 per cent for the south.

There was a significant growth in overall average room rates of 7.9 per cent in the first half of 2014 for high-end lodging (3 to 5 star) in Viet Nam, which was higher than the growth of 0.1 per cent in the first half of 2013.

Regarding the average room rate by star ranking, both 4- and 5-Star hotels experienced a drop of 6.6 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, in the first six months of 2014.

There was a significant increase in average room rates in the north, and the central region and the Highlands, by 15.6 and 9.1 per cent, respectively, in the first half of 2014.

This was due to a significant increase in average room rate of international hotel brands in these two locations, by 47.5 and 43.7 per cent, respectively.

With a slower growth rate, the south also experienced an increase in average room rate by 2.7 per cent in the first six months of 2014, compared with the same period last year.

Overall average occupancy rate of 3- to 5- star hotels in the first half of 2014 decreased significantly to 60.4 per cent from 64.1 per cent in the first half of 2013 dropping by 5.7 per cent.

A decrease in average occupancy rate could be attributed to the East Sea tension in the second quarter and also by an increase in the number of new rooms in main destinations, including Ha Noi, which gained three additional 3- to 4-star hotels with 200 rooms in the first quarter of 2014. — VNS