Hotels put up for sale as Covid-19 knocks down investors

On popular real estate listing websites, hundreds of hotels for sale could be seen in Ha Long, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and other places as the pandemic continues to decimate the hospitality industry.

Average hotel occupancy in HCMC in the first six months was 18 percent, up only 5 percentage points for the same period in 2020, according to real estate consultancy Savills.

"During the fourth Covid-19 wave in the second quarter, lockdown measures led to shrinking demand, with 17 projects removed from stock in the city," it said in a note.

Listings show hotels with 50-100 rooms in District 1 are being offered for VND150-800 billion, with many owners saying they need to sell soon to cut their losses.

In Quang Ninh Province, home to Ha Long Bay, official figures show that nearly 13,000 workers in the hospitality industry are directly affected by the pandemic with hotels only recording occupancy of 5-7 percent.

Tung, an owner, said he had borrowed VND18 billion from relatives and banks to build a 23-room hotel at the end of 2019.

"I thought the pandemic would end soon but it has lingered until now, which has exhausted me financially." He added that he has let all employees go to sell the hotel.

Industry insiders estimate prices have dropped by 30-40 percent since 2019.

Phan Xuan Can, chairman of real estate consultancy Sohovietnam, said around 90 percent of buyers of hotels priced at below VND100 billion are Vietnamese who seek to profit from a quick recovery by the industry once the majority of the population is vaccinated.