Authorities in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang are set to raise standards of local hotel construction in a bid to control the development of these facilities.

Alongside the rapid development of local tourism, the number of hotels in the central hub has skyrocketed over the past years, placing enormous pressure on traffic infrastructure and utility supply.

During a meeting on Tuesday, the municipal People’s Committee suggested that a set of policies should be established to prevent the excessive construction of hotels across the city.

The number of hotels in the city rose from 260 in 2011 to 693 in 2017, raising the number of rooms from 8,736 to 28,780, said Truong Thi Hong Hanh, deputy director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism.

A small alley on Ha Bong Street is filled with hotels. Photo: Tuoi Tre

From 2018 to 2020, about 86 hotels supplying 6,000 rooms are expected to be added, Hanh elaborated.

According to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters, most major streets across Da Nang are filled with hotels, with the number greatly rising over the past few years.

Smaller roads such as Ha Bong, which is only between 5.5 and 7.5 meters wide, have also become crowded and are often susceptible to traffic jams.

Multi-story hotels along a narrow street in Da Nang. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Along An Thuong Street, dozens of hotels were constructed in 2017. Most residents in the neighborhood have sold their houses at high prices to local developers.

Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, vice-chairman of the city’s administration, stated that the number of visitors to Da Nang has risen so quickly that it exceeded the predictions of local authorities.

However, the trend is inevitable as tourism development was chosen as one of the top priorities for the area.

It is against business law to simply ban local people from operating their hotels, Tuan remarked.

Hotels mushroom in Da Nang City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

“What we can do is set up a plan for construction of local hotels to suit the current situation and conditions,” the official said.

New policies and criteria should be implemented to limit the number of hotels to each area of the city, he continued.

“Based on the width of each street, hotels will be given a specific maximum number of floors and rooms to prevent overloading,” Tuan suggested, adding that each facility will need to meet a series of requirements, such as having a proper parking lot.

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