Domestic tours stuck as hotels fully booked by Chinese travellers

Chinese travellers have been flocking to Nha Trang

Le Kim Nhut, director of Nha Trang Tre Tourist, and chair of the Nha Trang Tourism Promotion Forum, confirmed that travel firms have had to cancel many tours recently because of the lack of hotel rooms.

Tran Thanh Hung told reporters that he needed 3-4-star hotel rooms in Nha Trang city for a group of 40 travelers from Thua Thien-Hue province, but there were no vacancies. “The group of travellers will come to Nha Trang in two months. After seeking help from friends and hotel receptionists, I managed to find a newly built 2-star hotel,” he said.

“Though the hotel is far from beaches, we have to pay the room rate of VND1 million ($45.4) per room, which is approximately the rate of 3-4 star hotel room,” he complained. Nhut said most 3-star and more luxury hotels have been booked for inbound tours and need to reserve rooms for travelers from China and Russia.

“The travel firms which arrange tours for Chinese and Russian travelers make reservations and pay some money in advance,” he explained. “Some hotels only have 50 rooms, but accept reservations for 60-70 rooms. As a result there are no more rooms for domestic travelers,” he said. Domestic travelers only know at the last minute if they can book a room. In most cases, they can book only luxury rooms or pay high room rates.

“Even hotels under two stars are fully occupied because the very high number of Chinese travelers,” he said. A hotel receptionist said travel firms buy hotel rooms in bulk many months or one year in advance.

Le Van Son, CEO of 4-star Liberty Nha Trang, said Chinese travellers account for 60 percent of total guests, so the occupancy rate at hotels is always high. However, the hotel room rate has decreased significantly. The room rate at 5-star hotels, for example, plunged by 50 percent from $220 per room per night in 2013 to $110 in 2017.

Son expressed concern about the loss of travelers from Europe, Australia and North America. “The number of Chinese travellers is so high, while tourists from traditional markets such as Europe, Australia and North America are on the sharp decrease,” he said.

“If we cannot find reasonable solutions, we will lose the markets completely.” The same thing is happening in Danang. Deputy CEO of Vitours Le Tan Thanh Tung said in high season many hotels don’t receive bookings because the rooms are fully occupied for Chinese and Korean travelers.