Mauro Gasparotti is Director of Savills Hotels, part of Savills Group, specializing in hotel consulting and brokerage in Vietnam. Mauro and the Savills Hotels team's main job is to provide advice to project investors through analyzing optimal development options, analyzing investment costs based on positioning scenarios and hotel models at the initial planning stage, until the selection of hotel operators and brands.

With many years of experience and in-depth knowledge in the field of Tourism - Hotels through consulting and brokerage activities for projects in Vietnam as well as in the region, Mr. Mauro has a comprehensive view of the tourism industry in Vietnam today - as well as potential trends and opportunities in the coming time. Let's take a look at some of Mr. Mauro's comments and predictions for the Vietnamese tourism industry in 2021.

First of all, can you share what brought you to Vietnam?

I came here when I was 27, now I'm 40 - thirteen gorgeous years!

It all started in 2007, when I was working in hotel investment in Sydney, Australia. I remember coming across a magazine cover with the words “Vietnam: the next Asian tiger”. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Vietnam, other than some wartime stories. After googling “Saigon”, then “Saigon by night” then “Vietnamese people”, I decided to email a few companies, got a job offer, bought a one-way ticket and have been here ever since.

So what has kept you here, until now?

I love Vietnam - the people, the air, the nature, the customers and colleagues. Oh, and of course my beautiful Vietnamese girlfriend.

Have you discovered many places in Vietnam?

I can say that I have been to many places in Vietnam, from north to south, from east to west. From business trips to Mong Cai, going south to advise customers to buy shrimp farms in Bac Lieu. From the easternmost point of Mui Dien in Phu Yen to bus trips to the west in Dak Nong to visit my girlfriend's house...

In my opinion, traveling to Vietnam brings impressive and unique experiences. Those who have come here will find it hard to forget, they will always carry with them memories of Vietnam.

With your expertise, can you make some predictions about Vietnam tourism in 2021?

Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam is in a much better position on the road to recovery thanks to three factors: (1) domestic tourists account for a large proportion of total tourists; (2) a large number of Vietnamese tourists travel abroad and are now shifting to domestic travel; (3) Vietnam is located near other Asian countries where the Covid-19 situation is under control. When borders reopen, these groups of tourists are expected to recover soon and they are very large groups, including China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, who will likely choose to take short breaks at least in 2021 and part of 2022, before possibly going on vacations in Europe or the US.

Most hotels are currently allocating their budgets to the scenario that Q1 and Q2 will still be dominated by domestic demand, and Q3 and Q4 can start to welcome international guests back. Assuming that the market is expected to close with an average occupancy of 28% nationwide this year, we hope to see growth by the end of next year and take occupancy above 50%. But that will depend on the success of the vaccine and the opening of international borders.

In your opinion, can Vietnam's tourism industry have a breakthrough recovery in 2021 and how?

I believe the market will recover, but it will take all of 2021 and possibly 2022 to return to the level of 2019. Investors and those in the hospitality industry should look at the medium term of the industry and focus immediately on improvements such as introducing new products, new forms of entertainment, improving and enhancing the quality of services as well as facilities and infrastructure. This will allow the Vietnamese market to be ready for the recovery process, taking advantage of the opportunities and tourism waves in the coming time. It must be a coordinated activity of local authorities, travel companies, hotel investors and businesses in the industry to be able to take Vietnamese tourism to new heights.

The market in recent years has been moving in the direction of oversupply and "hot development" at some tourist destinations. Now we should take this time to comprehensively assess the tourism situation, analyze the available potential to propose improvement solutions, build long-term development strategies and improve the quality in a synchronous manner for the entire tourism industry and resort destinations across the country, not just individual tourist destinations or accommodation facilities.

To stay afloat, many hotels have been offering huge discounts, but is that a long-term solution?

Normally, hotels don’t tend to cut prices because it can be difficult to raise prices again, but no one has experienced what has happened this year. By cutting prices, hotels are shifting their original customer base to reach a different and broader segment. The tricky part is that once customers get used to the price reduction, it will affect their perception of “value” when the hotel restores the original price.

Another popular solution to generate revenue is promotions, such as package deals with a free night's stay, airline ticket payments, or dining deals.

Many new trends have been formed during this time, which trends do you think will be popular in 2021?

First of all, we can see a shift from classifying hotels by “star” with 3, 4, 5 levels to “hotel types”, as well as classifying tourists by “business and leisure guests” to identifying guests in more personalized segments with definitions such as Millennial Travelers (8X-9X travelers), Bleisure Guests (combining business and leisure), Foodie Travellers (culinary travelers), Wellness Seekers (combining travel and wellness), Groupies (group travelers), Family Travelers (family travelers)... That has given hotel owners, operators and consultants the opportunity to focus on “customer experience” in a more appropriate way and truly capture the essence of the hospitality industry, not just providing “a room with a bed”.

In terms of trends, I really like wellness resorts – combining nutrition, eco-activities, sustainability, education with some spiritual experiences (at different levels). We are starting to see wellness resorts in Vietnam that not only offer yoga and mindfulness activities, but also cleansing and holistic programs with a range of on-site activities led by specialist trainers.

I also love resorts and hotels that take their food and beverage into account and add value to their guests through service and food quality - it should be stressed that food is very important for some resorts and they should take care of it. On the other hand, food is not so essential for some types of hotels, for example, city hotels with selective service. That's why I love the hospitality industry, it has so many options!

What plans do you and Team Savills Hotels have to contribute to the recovery of the tourism industry in 2021?

My team and I regularly organize activities such as professional conferences, industry networking events and webinars to share the latest information for individuals and organizations in the industry to support the market recovery. One of our most popular events is Meet The Experts, which is the largest hotel conference in Vietnam, and I believe this series of events will become a new catalyst for sharing information to help or inspire hotel owners and investors.