Foreign Investment Restrictions and Business Conditions for Short-Term Accommodation Operations

2. Classification of Short-Term Accommodation Facilities and Required Permits
3. Conditions Applicable to Short-Term Accommodation Facilities

17. Industry Category 9. Accommodation No. 1

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1. Overview of Regulations

Business: Short-Term Accommodation Operations

Official Business Name under Vietnamese Law

CPC Code

VSIC Code

Short-term accommodation services

Details:

Hotels
Short-term accommodation services at villas and apartments
Guesthouses, inns, or other lodging facilities providing short-term accommodation services
Boarding houses, rooms for rent, and other similar short-term accommodation facilities

64110

5510

Investment and Business Conditions

Conditions under WTO Commitments

Conditions under Vietnamese Domestic Law (Law on Tourism No. 09/2017/QH14)

Foreign ownership restrictions have been lifted. Accommodation services may be provided without needing to invest concurrently in the construction, renovation, improvement, or acquisition of the hotel.
Foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises may hold up to 100% ownership on a stand-alone basis.
However, because the short-term accommodation business is a conditional business line, foreign investors must, as with local enterprises, satisfy the conditions set out below.

2. Classification of Short-Term Accommodation Facilities and Required Permits

(1) Classification of Short-Term Accommodation Facilities

Short-term accommodation facilities are classified as follows.

① Hotels

② Tourist villas

③ Tourist apartments

④ Tourist floating accommodation (boats)

⑤ Tourist guesthouses

⑥ Homestays offering rooms for rent to tourists

⑦ Campsites

⑧ Other tourist accommodation facilities

(2) Permits Required for Short-Term Accommodation Facilities

Short-term accommodation facilities must obtain the following permits.

① Construction permit

② Completion inspection record

③ Hotel operating license

④ Fire safety design approval, fire safety design drawings, fire safety acceptance certificate, and periodic fire inspection certificate

⑤ Food safety and hygiene license

⑥ Approval of the social order and security proposal

⑦ Hotel star-rating certificate

⑧ Environmental protection commitment

3. Conditions Applicable to Short-Term Accommodation Facilities

Short-Term Accommodation Facility

Conditions (Infrastructure and Facility Requirements)

Hotels

Must have a minimum of 10 guest rooms, a reception counter, and shared restrooms.
Resort hotels and roadside hotels must provide guest parking.
Resort hotels, floating hotels, and roadside hotels must have a kitchen, dining hall, and meal service.
Must provide beds, mattresses, quilts, pillows, face towels, and bath towels, and replace mattress covers, quilt covers, pillow covers, face towels, and bath towels for each new guest.
Staff must be on duty 24 hours a day.

Tourist Villas

Must provide beds, mattresses, quilts, pillows, face towels, and bath towels, and replace mattress covers, quilt covers, pillow covers, face towels, and bath towels for each new guest.
Staff must be on duty 24 hours a day.
Must have a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and restroom.

Tourist Apartments

Must have a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and restroom.
Must provide beds, mattresses, quilts, pillows, face towels, and bath towels, and replace mattress covers, quilt covers, pillow covers, face towels, and bath towels for each new guest.

Tourist Floating Accommodation (Boats)

Must have a living room, bedroom (cabin), bathroom, restroom, kitchen, dining hall, and meal service.
Must provide beds, mattresses, quilts, pillows, face towels, and bath towels, and replace mattress covers, quilt covers, pillow covers, face towels, and bath towels for each new guest.

Tourist Guesthouses

Must have a living room and bedroom, bathroom, and restroom.
Must provide beds, mattresses, quilts, pillows, face towels, and bath towels, and replace mattress covers, quilt covers, pillow covers, face towels, and bath towels for each new guest.
Staff must be on duty 24 hours a day.

Homestays Offering Rooms for Rent to Tourists

Must be fully equipped with sleeping space, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a restroom.
Must provide beds, mattresses or tatami mats, quilts, pillows, mosquito nets, face towels, and bath towels, and replace the mattress or tatami mat, quilt cover, pillow cover, face towel, and bath towel for each new guest.

Tourist Campsites

Must be fully equipped with a common area, a tent-pitching area, and shared bathrooms and restrooms.
Must be equipped with a first-aid kit.
A security guard must be present on-site whenever guests are present.