Hanoi (VNA) – The condotel (condo hotel) market is forecast to remainattractive to investors in 2018, with increasing amounts of capital poured byboth domestic and foreign investors into the segment.

NguyenTran Nam, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association (VREA), said theoccupancy rate of hotels in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as well as luxuryresorts exceeded 90 percent, describing room booking during holidays as a hardtask.

“Hundredsof thousands of rooms need to be built to meet tourists’ demand,” he said.

Condotelsand villa resorts have formed a new trend of investment in Vietnam in recentyears, Nam said, citing more than 12,500 out of more than 22,800 available condotelapartments traded successfully in 2017 in major destinations like Da Nang,Khanh Hoa, Phu Quoc and Binh Thuan in the central region and the northernprovince of Quang Ninh.

Bigdomestic investors such as Vingroup, Sun Group and CEO Group have also investedin condotel projects.

Accordingto VREA, Khanh Hoa province has the most condotels with upwards of 11,800apartments, followed by Da Nang city with more than 7,000. Quang Ninh, a newcomer,put up to 1,300 condotel apartments on sale last year.

StephenWyatt, General Director of Joneslanglasalle Vietnam, a realestate services firm specialising in commercial property and investmentmanagement, explained that investors want to utilise the development ofVietnam’s tourism.

In2017, Vietnam welcomed nearly 13 million international tourists, an increase of30 percent against the previous year. Thanks to the number, Vietnam has beennamed in the list of the world’s top ten fastest growing travel destinations.

Thedemand for villa resorts and condotels will not cool down in the near future asVietnam aims turn tourism into an economic spearhead.

Thecountry is expected serve 15 million foreign arrivals in 2018 and up to 20million in 2020. By 2020, the numberof domestic holiday-makers is projected at 82 million and the sector’scontribution to national GDP at more than 10 percent.

However,Nam said, the condotel sector still faces challenges in terms of legality,adding that condotels have yet to be regulated, which has caused difficulties forState management agencies, and affected the interests of people and businesses.

Onlythe Tourism Law 2017 identifies condotel and villa resort as tourismaccommodation establishments, he said.

Namunderlined the need to soon address issues regarding the land granting,condotel and villa resort property rights certificates, possession duration, transferof contracts and construction standards, among others.-VNA