The agency predicts the average price for hotels will surge 15 to 30 per-cent in 2008, and may even leap 30 to 40 percent for luxury and downtown hotels and properties with conference and exhibition facilities.

The city currently has around 290 hotels ranging from one to five stars, including 118 new hotels with 2,500 new rooms added in 2007, according to the service.

Three- to five-star hotels totaled 44, providing more than 7,000 luxury rooms to tourists by the end of 2007

Yet, the number of available rooms has not kept pace with the influx of international tourists and domestic visitors flocking to urban metropolis-es, said a senior officer from Saigontourist Holdings, the country’s leading hotel operator.

About 19.2 million local tourists and 4.3 million international arrivals— respective year-on-year increases of 9.7 and 17.2 percent—traveled in Vietnam in 2007, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Not only HCMC but also big cities like Hanoi, Ha Long, Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Can Tho and Vung Tau face a shortage of hotel rooms in the coming years, according to a survey conducted by Grant Thornton last year.

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