Disillusioned with getting rich, homestay owner in Da Lat regrets earning 120 million VND/month

Returning to Ho Chi Minh City in early June, Ms. Quynh Mai (36 years old) said that she decided to start over after her startup failed. After more than 4 years of "rotating" in Da Lat City, she transferred the coffee shop in Da Lat, then returned to Ho Chi Minh City to open another shop.

According to Ms. Mai, by early March 2023, the coffee shop model in Da Lat was truly saturated, even redundant when there were many shops springing up. With a large supply and weak demand, coffee shops in the city of thousands of flowers were all deserted. Ms. Mai's coffee shop was no exception.

Da Lat city is deserted during the April 30-May 1 holiday this year (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Desperate because of lack of customers

"When I started my business, the most difficult period was when construction projects were ordered to limit the number of workers, not allowing more than 10 people to gather during the epidemic. The obstacle right at the completion stage caused the investment cost to increase by more than 50%. We couldn't move forward, couldn't move back, we could only grit our teeth and move forward," Ms. Mai recounted the process of taking money to Da Lat to open a coffee shop.

From that difficulty, Ms. Mai's coffee shop continuously encountered many obstacles due to objective factors.

"The economic situation and difficult employment have affected the travel needs of most tourists. In addition, recently, many images of Dalat being flooded and stormy have made tourists quite hesitant to come to this poetic city," Ms. Mai shared.

Once a fully booked homestay on weekends, Ms. Han's accommodation is now facing many difficulties as the number of guests has dropped by more than half (Photo: Provided by the character).

All capital was invested in the restaurant, but the revenue was just enough to maintain her living expenses and operations, so after 4 years of operation, Ms. Mai has not recovered her initial capital.

Carrying many dreams when she came to Da Lat to start a business, she had to sadly give up and return to Ho Chi Minh City to avoid having to "bear" debt every month.

Ms. Truong Thi Nguyen Han (36 years old, homestay owner (accommodation service) in Da Lat city) said that from the beginning of 2023 until now, the number of guests on weekends only filled 50% of the rooms.

During the holidays, the occupancy rate is around 80%, although she tries to keep the price the same as usual. With more than 7 years of experience in operating accommodation services, Ms. Han assessed that this is the most difficult time.

"I opened a homestay on my family's land, had a regular customer base, and didn't have to struggle to pay rent, but it was still humiliating. Young people who come from far away to start a business and have to rent a house, land, and facilities must face many more difficulties," said Ms. Han.

Similar to many other homestays, the number of guests at Trinh Ngoc Tien's (32 years old) accommodation has also decreased by 60% compared to before. Revenue is only enough to maintain operations, and some months even have to cover losses. He and his team have had to open more coffee shops, taking advantage of many sources of income to survive.

The occupancy rate is only 50% even though the homestay owner has applied many incentive and discount programs (Photo: Character provided).

"During previous holidays, the homestay's revenue was up to 120 million VND/month. But now it's only 30-40 million VND. If this continues, I'll have to close the homestay and consider starting over," Mr. Tien said in frustration.

Discounts and promotions are still... disappointing

Mr. Ngoc Tien commented that those who started homestay business at the same time as him have now almost all transferred their business.

"Starting a business in Da Lat is not like the rumor of "easy money". In fact, construction costs here are very expensive, maybe 3 times higher than other places. In addition, construction permits and administrative procedures are very complicated. Business owners also have difficulty accessing and finding qualified and skilled labor," said Mr. Tien.

Not only that, the homestay owner said, other types of services in Da Lat are also increasingly expensive but do not match the quality, making tourists frustrated.

Despite investing in quality, homestays are still in a poor state due to many objective factors (Photo: Provided by the character).

Besides, when typical traffic projects such as the highway connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet City are completed, tourists will be more interested in new tourist destinations, more towards the sea than Da Lat.

To retain customers, Ms. Nguyen Han has implemented many incentive programs such as 30% discount on room rates on weekdays, no price increase on holidays, 50% discount on room rates for guests coming alone, etc. However, the business situation is still not very positive.

"This year, the economic situation is difficult, many people have lost their jobs, and their salaries have been reduced, affecting the general demand for tourism, causing the number of visitors to decrease sharply. Meanwhile, the supply of accommodation, coffee shops... is increasing. In fact, many young people have flocked to Da Lat to start a business recently.

As a professional, I advise everyone to consider carefully before starting a business in this city, because there are many things that are not like what you hear or imagine," said Ms. Han.

She believes that short-term thinking and quick actions are unlikely to lead to success. The essential factor is perseverance and long-term efforts, hoping that the tourism situation in Da Lat will return to its previous positive state, thanks to tourism promotion programs, the progress of completing traffic projects and the economy gradually stabilizing.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/vo-mong-lam-giau-chu-homestay-o-da-lat-tiec-thoi-thu-120-trieu-dongthang-20231018120750387.htm