Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City’s hotels are overdue for a rate increase and next year’s APEC summit is providing the catalyst. Wrisney Tan finds out more.

Hanoi is going to be filled to the brim in September next year with the city hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit.

Held mainly at the 65,000m2 National Convention Complex Center, this will be the biggest event the country has ever hosted with representatives from 21 nations expected to attend.

Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) deputy director, tourism promotion department, Mr Nguyen Quy Phuong, said some countries are expected to send thousand-strong delegations.

In preparation, all four- to five-star hotels in Hanoi have been deployed and tourism-related businesses have been encouraged by VNAT to upgrade their services, products and facilities.

Room rates are expected to soar during this time. Five-star hotels with a total of 2,600 rooms and three- to four-star hotels with more than 7,000 rooms are expected to be booked out the week of, before and after the summit. Both business and leisure travellers are advised to stay away during September 2006 as security measures are expected to be tight. It is also likely there will be a blackout period for the issuance of visas.

The good news is hoteliers of the city's five-star hotels and two four-star hotels have come together to agree on a rate band during the APEC period so that participating properties would not take advantage of the situation to raise rates. More hotels may come into the agreement closer to the summit.

The general managers are expected to make a decision on the rates within the band by the end of the year.