Homestay service yields $130 million for Vietnam

Data by AirDNA, provider of short-term vacation rental data and analytics, shows that the supply of homestay accommodation in the country has bolstered some 500 per cent in a year, an impressive growth compared to traditional hotel accommodation that went up by only 40 per cent.

Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are the country's biggest homestay markets with the former having 11,322 listings and the later 5,078 listings.

According to property consulting company Savills Hotels Asia - Pacific, the number of listings on Airbnb in the country inreased from 1,200 units in 2015 to 36,319 units last year.

Meanwhile, AirDND reveals that homestay service in the country earned $130 million last year.

Provinces and cities that enjoyed the increase in annual revenue from homestay service last year were Ho Chi Minh City with $41.6 million, Danang $19 million, Hanoi $13.3 million and Khanh Hoa $7.6 million.

Given the emergence of online accommodation platforms like Airbnb and Luxstay, travelers now have more options to book for their accommodation across the world. Technologies are indeed helping reshape the habit of customers and the growth of the accommodation market.

Homestay accommodation is often designed for short-term stays and its revenue is estimated to be 20 to 30 per cent higher than traditional hotel or motel accommodations. The profit can even go as high as 200-300 per cent if the accommodations are located within the tourist attraction areas.

Homestay service does not require a high upfront cost so this business model has attracted quite a lot of local home owners to join the segment in recent years.

According Luxstay’s representative Can Phuong Ha, the home sharing accommodation segment in Vietnam is growing fast and will continue to grow in the coming years, with potential to attain some 10-20 per cent of the total accommodation spending, or roughly market $15 billion by 2025.

Vietnam with its long coastline of over 3,400 kilometers, lush tropical forests, rich food and culture heritages, have been the choice of many travelers.

With its real estate market boom, there have been a large number of hotels, resorts, villas and condotels being built in recent years, contributing towards a large bank of accommodation units available to tourists.