Many consequences of racing to build homestays without planning

Concerns about security and order

According to Hanoi City Police, the homestay accommodation service business is booming and gradually becoming an indispensable part for tourists who love experiences.

With many criteria that are superior to traditional hotels in terms of location, price, amenities, closeness to nature, people, indigenous culture..., homestay continues to affirm its important role in the tourism industry.

In Ba Vi district, there are currently over 150 homestays and motels concentrated in the communes of Van Hoa, Yen Bai, Minh Quang, Tan Linh... Hanoi City Police said that, besides the advantages that homestays bring, security and order issues related to homestays in the area are causing concern among the people.

Authorities informed that sometimes, just having a house, roughly upgraded, with a room only about 20 square meters wide, the owner can accommodate 15-20 people because most tourists only need a place to rest at night.

On the other hand, the rush to build homestays without planning has led to a situation where in some places there is more “supply” than “demand”, so many homestays are in a slump. From there, some places with the mentality of “snatching and pulling” have to lower prices to attract customers.

Many establishments do not meet standards for fire prevention and fighting, environmental protection, and food hygiene and safety. At the same time, tourism workers have not been trained in knowledge, experience, skills, and foreign languages to promote tourism products, or their promotion is not appropriate to local culture.

The above problems have greatly affected local cultural values, negatively impacted the natural environment, and raised many problems related to the health, lives, and property of tourists.

Using homestay to do drugs

At the end of June 2023, Ba Vi District Police (Hanoi) inspected a homestay in Muoi village, Yen Bai commune, and discovered 18 young men and women "high" with signs of drug use.

Through investigation, Ba Vi District Police determined that the owner of the birthday party was Ly Thi Bich Ngoc (born in 2004; living in Na Cooc village, Tri Phu commune, Chiem Hoa district, Tuyen Quang province) who was a karaoke bar employee of the couple Phung The Sang (born in 1996) and Do Thi Nhu My (born in 1999), both residing in Trung Ha village, Thai Hoa commune, Ba Vi district, Hanoi.

On June 28, Ngoc's birthday, with the consent of Sang and My, the group ordered 10 million VND worth of drugs in the form of "ke" and "ke" to bring to the above homestay to organize illegal use.

A group of young people gathered to use drugs at a homestay in Ba Vi. Photo: Hanoi City Police.

The police also clarified that this homestay is managed by Nguyen Van Thanh (Yen Bai commune, Ba Vi district). During the business operation, Thanh hired his younger brother Nguyen Van That (born in 2000) and Bach Thanh Chung (born in 2002, living in the same village) to take care of it.

These subjects often let homestay guests use drugs for 300,000 - 500,000 VND. To ensure the safety of guests, Chung and That are on guard through the security camera system, and when they see strangers entering, they will notify the whole group.

Regarding this issue, Hanoi City Police said they will regularly inspect the business activities of homestay establishments, inspect business management, temporary residence declaration, fire prevention and fighting, environmental sanitation, carefully evaluate documents upon receipt, and not issue certificates to establishments that have not met the required standards.

At the same time, business owners and residents need to be vigilant and coordinate with the police when detecting signs of complicated security and order issues at homestays.

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