Three- to five-star hotels in Hanoi performed better than their peers in HCMC in terms of the average room rate though room occupancy in the capital was lower, according to the market researcher Savills Vietnam Ltd.

A report from Savills Vietnam Ltd. showed that the average room rate in Hanoi in the second quarter was US$87 per night, or US$4 higher than the rate in HCMC. Meanwhile, average occupancy in the capital was 55% compared to 60% in HCMC.

However, both cities experienced a substantial fall in both indicators above because of the inbound sector’s low season, according to the report.

Savills said the room rate in HCMC was down 12 percentage points compared to the first quarter of this year while the rate in Hanoi was down only 2 percentage points. Hanoi had 48 three-to five-star hotels.

The company said more than 552,000 foreign visitors visited the capital in the first six months of this year, up 20% year-on-year along with nearly 5.9 million domestic visitors. However, this figure differs greatly from official statistics of Hanoi.

Mai Tien Dung, deputy director of Hanoi City’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told the Daily that the total number of foreign visitors to the city in the first half reached nearly one million.

There were 665,000 visitors who stayed at the city’s hotels, and over 300,000 guests who just visited Hanoi within a day, Dung said.

Savills estimated that the total number of travelers to Hanoi would increase in the third quarter as local government has plans to boost tourism alongside summer promotions from tourism agencies.

However, for the short-term development, the company said that supply will increase faster than demand in Hanoi in the next five years. The future hotels are being developed in mixed-use projects such as Intercontinental Hanoi Landmark and the Marriot at 58 Tay Ho Street among others.

In the rest of this year only, the city will have around 400 more hotel rooms.