Vietnam Capital City to Lack Hotel Rooms during 1000th Celebration

Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi will be short of hotel rooms to serve increasing number of domestic and foreign travelers on the occasion of the upcoming 1000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, experts warned.

 

“Travel firms are now hurrying to deposit money to book rooms. Most of the hotels in the inner city have been fully booked for the days of the great festival. We dare not accept more clients, because we are afraid we cannot book hotel rooms,” Dao Hong Thuong, Deputy Director of Vietsky Travel, said.

 

Since late 2009, travel firms began preparing for tourists on the occasion of the1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, which has led to 10%-15% increase in room rates.

 

There are now 880 hotels and guesthouses in Hanoi that can provide 17,000 rooms, including nine five-star hotels, six four-star and 25 three-star hotels. The number, however, can only meet the demand of the estimated 40,000 travelers who will arrive in the capital city on the occasion.

 

Hanoi is forecast to welcome between 700,000 and 800,000 tourists, both domestic and foreign during the celebration, said the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

 

Hanoi received more than 550,000 international visitors in the first seven months of this year, up 12% from a year earlier. The city aims to greet 1.5 million foreign tourists this year.

 

At present, the number of foreign tourists to Hanoi accounts for 33% of the country’s total. (VietNamNet)