HOTEL ROOM SHORTAGE CONCERN RISES AS MICE ARRIVALS SURGE

MICE tourist arrivals to HCMC have recently soared, causing concerns among travel firms over possible shortages of hotel rooms and conference hall space.

Major hotels in the city said average room occupancy in the first quarter of 2017 was high. For instance, many hotels of 4-5 stars reported occupancy of over 80% or even 90% in February.

Many famous hotels are full, making it difficult for travel companies to arrange accommodations for guests of Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Event (MICE) programs. “There is a balance between demand and supply at the moment but if the MICE market grows further, the possibility of lacking hotel rooms for MICE tourists will be high,” said a source from Saigontourist Travel Service Company.

Since last year, MICE visitors to HCMC have increased steadily. Many companies have seen an increase of up to 20% in MICE guests. However, the city’s hotels and convention centers seem to be overstretched, tourism companies have had to move some groups to other cities and provinces.

“We have transferred some MICE groups to Danang and Nha Trang cities. HCMC holds great potential for MICE tourism growth but the city needs to invest more in infrastructure, hotels and convention centers,” said Nguyen Ngoc Chau, chairman of Ben Thanh Tourist.

According to the HCMC Department of Tourism, by February this year, the city had had 1,926 star-rated hotels with 48,182 guest rooms, including 116 hotels of 3-5 stars with 14,641 rooms. The average room occupancy rate of 3-5 star hotels was about 70%.

The department has asked the city government to offer incentives for projects to construct, expand and upgrade 3-5 star hotels.

Tourism enterprises have suggested the city build more exhibition and convention facilities. Currently, the city has only two exhibition and convention centers, namely GEM Center in District 1 and Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in District 7.

However, GEM is not big enough to accommodate large events while SECC is always full, with 56 large exhibitions already booked for this year.

Source: The Saigon Times