Phu Quoc island regains lustre

Vietnam’s pearl island – Phu Quoc off the coast of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has recorded a surge in the number of visitors since late last year following a brewing tourism crisis.

Thai visitors in Phu Quoc city

Local streets, beaches, restaurants and entertainment zones were packed with tourists, both Vietnamese and foreigners, for Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

The island hosted nearly 192,000 holiday-makers during Tet, including 51,929 foreigners, up 4.6% year-on-year.

An array of tourism products has been on the offer such as “Kiss the star” show, Kiss Bridge and Fest Bazaar, attracting a huge crowd of visitors.

Truong Xuan Linh, a tour guide from Viet Phu travel company, said that the number of visitors to Phu Quoc increased dramatically in the runup to Tet, especially those from China, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand and the US who spend their vacation at beach resorts along Khem and Sao beaches, and explore local culture.

The provincial Department of Tourism reported average room occupancy at four- and five-star hotels was 60% during the Tet holiday which ran from February 8 to 14, while the rates event increased to a high of 90% in several lodging facilities.

Hotel booking volumes are expected to rise after Tet – the time when Phu Quoc has mild climate and calm waters.

Director of the provincial Centre for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Quan Xuan Lua said that Phu Quoc welcomes more than 2,000 foreigners every day, much higher than the figure recorded in Quarter 3 of 2023.

There is a daily flight from Kazakhstan to Phu Quoc until March, while several airlines of the Republic of Korea are operating or have reopened flights to the pearl island such as Korean Air, Jeju Air and Jin Air, she added.

Travel firms have attributed the bright spot in Phu Quoc tourism to local authority’s resolve to crack down on price gouging and improve tourism services.

According to Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Quoc city Huynh Quang Hung, apart from joining hands with enterprises and local residents to roll out heavy tourism promotion programmes to popularise Phu Quoc as a friendly destination among visitors, the city's authority has kept a close watch on the business of restaurants and service providers, and meted out punishment on any violations on price overcharging.

With a view to adding lustre to Phu Quoc island, the local tourism sector will continue working to creating new offerings, carry out tourism stimulus programmes, and ask service providers to fully list their prices, a representative from the Department of Tourism said.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Luu Trung has ordered the tourism sector to work closely with the Phu Quoc city People’s Committee to study the development of new tourism products, and enhance state management in the industry.

Additionally, in a bid for the tourism sector to carve out breakthroughs in 2024, he requested them to complete the project to branch out Phu Quoc city into a high-quality resort tourism centre and a national and international sea tourism destination as approved by the Prime Minister./.

VNA