Nguyen Van Binh in HCM City and some of his friends have recently come to Da Lat City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to buy land for homestay business. However, they were really shocked at land prices which are three times higher than a year ago.
Pham Minh Trang who has a 3,000 square-metre site near Prenn Pass some 10 kilometres from Da Lat City, said that she bought the land plot for just VND1.3 billion (USD59,000) a year ago, but now the prices have increased to VND3 billion (USD136,363).
The homestay business has also mushroomed in many localities in the Mekong Delta region. Over the past recent months, Tran Hoang Thang from HCM City has often come to Long An, Tien Giang and Vinh Long provinces at weekend to find land for building homestays.
Thang said that one month ago, a 7,000 square-metre land plot at Tan Phong Commune, Cai Lay District was priced at VND2.8 billion (USD127,272), but now, the prices has increased to VND4.2 billion.
According to a land broker in Cai Lay District, more people have come to the locality to buy land for homestays since the end of 2017. Local land prices have increased from VND1.2 billion to VND2 billion per 1,000 square metres.
Hai Nhi, a tour guide from a tourist firm in Tien Giang Province, said that many people are flocking to Cai Be Town and Cai Lay District to buy land near floating markets for homestay businesses. Local residents have started this business trend.
Mekong Rustic Homestay in Cai Lay District or Nam Thi Homestay in Cai Be Town have attracted lots of visitors. Room prices there are often higher than two or three star hotels.
Phan Thi Man Chi, owner of the Nam Thi Homestay, said that she could earn VND20 million a month from the service. The average price of each room is VND900,000-1 million per night.
Phan Cong Chanh, General Director of Phu Vinh Group which is investing in homestay facilities in Long An Province, said that investors need to carefully consider homestay projects.
It is very important to select suitable places so that visitors can easily experience life of local people. For instance, in the south western region, homestay facilities must be near rivers and fruit gardens. In Da Lat, they must be near tea hills or flower gardens, Chanh added.
He also noted the significance of choosing homestay managers who need to clearly understand about tourism and local people’s lifestyles as well as have good foreign language skills.
Investors also have to pay attention to legal issues related to land plots used for homestay construction, he highlighted.
