Resort real estate anticipates recovery this year

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam's resort real estate sector is set to see a fresh recovery as many foreign funds and investors are seeking suitable investment products, said experts from the real estate agency Savills Vietnam.

Mauro Gasparotti, Director at Savills Hotels Asia Pacific, called villas and condotels a good investment channel, and advised investors to pay more attention to project quality.

The segment’s recovery will depend on tourism growth, especially international tourism, he said.

The experts noted that although Vietnam opened its borders to international visitors in March 2022, the tourism sector still faces a range of challenges, including its reliance on the Chinese market and oversupply.

Gasparotti pointed out that prior to the pandemic, international tourists to Vietnam increased 16.9% each year in 2009-2019, which boosted resort projects. Especially, in the 2017-2019 period,  about 10,000 high-end hotel rooms were put into service annually.

However, the pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the industry, which, therefore, needs great efforts to fully recover.

Statistics show that in the first two months of this year, Vietnam welcomed 1.8 million international arrivals, down 40% year-on-year, mainly from the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the US.

Gasparotti said Korean and domestic tourists have contributed to the recovery of coastal resorts in the central city of Da Nang, with their room occupancy exceeding 50%. Meanwhile, Nha Trang resort town in the central province of Khanh Hoa has still felt the pandemic impacts as China has yet to open its borders.

Room occupancy of hotels in Ho Chi Minh City has also been recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

Experts said that many countries reopening their borders and removing all restrictions for travelers have boosted outbound tours, enabling resort real estate to reboot this year./.