International visitors love Phu Quoc

Having just finished a trip to Phu Quoc in mid-October, Korean tourist Lee Hannim said the island city "lived up to expectations."

Lee Hannim likes meditation and yoga, so Phu Quoc is a suitable place for these activities. The female tourist praised Phu Quoc for its beauty, safety, and friendly people towards international visitors.

"After Covid-19, many people are looking for light, relaxing trips and connecting with nature. Phu Quoc is an isolated island, so it attracted me," Hannim said, adding that this island city is "very famous" in Korea.

According to her, Koreans like to travel to Vietnam and Phu Quoc is the top choice. Hannim herself had been to Da Nang and Hoi An 5 years ago, so she decided to seek a new experience on this trip.

Hannim took a photo in Phu Quoc on October 18. Photo: NVCC

According to Hotel & Restaurant magazine (Korea), Vietnam is a favorite foreign destination for tourists from the land of kimchi thanks to its short distance, reasonable prices and delicious cuisine . This magazine introduces Phu Quoc as "one of the few places where you can find emerald sea water in Vietnam". The diversity of activities and experiences in the south and north of the island is also an attractive factor for tourists.

Modetour, a travel company founded in 1989 in Korea, has also just announced the diversification of Phu Quoc tourism products to meet the increasing interest of Korean tourists during the winter.

"After Da Nang and Nha Trang, Phu Quoc is increasingly popular with Korean tourists. We are diversifying our products so that tourists can experience the charm of Phu Quoc," a company representative told Herald Corp, a major media outlet in Korea.

Mr. Vu Tien Van, General Director of Adavigo, said that the company focuses on exploiting the flow of international tourists in Phu Quoc and has seen many positive signs. Regarding Korean tourists, Mr. Van commented that this group is really interested in Vietnam. During the recent difficult period due to the lack of domestic tourists, many tourism businesses in Phu Quoc almost "lived off Korean tourists".

However, Mr. Van said this is not a fertile market for Vietnamese travel companies. The reason is that travel companies in Korea often work "quite locally", not linked with Vietnamese travel companies. They mainly work with companies in Vietnam but have "connections" with the Korean side. However, Mr. Van assessed that the growth of Korean visitors has a positive impact on tourism service businesses such as restaurants and entertainment venues in Phu Quoc.

A 5-star resort in Phu Quoc. Photo: Booking

Adavigo is currently focusing on exploiting the flow of Indian and Taiwanese (China) tourists. Mr. Van said that he recently successfully welcomed a group of 500 Indian tourists. During November and December, the company will try to complete contracts with some partners from Taiwan. According to Mr. Van, at the end of the year, especially after Christmas, the interest from international tourists to Phu Quoc will be very high.

"Foreign tourists like Phu Quoc because in the three years of the pandemic, this island city has changed a lot but they have not been able to visit. Therefore, currently, they consider Phu Quoc as a top destination," said Mr. Van.

Responding to VnExpress , Mr. Nguyen Vu Khac Huy, Permanent Vice President of Kien Giang Province Tourism Association, commented that Phu Quoc has great appeal to international visitors thanks to its beautiful weather at the end of the year (peak season for international visitors), wonderful beaches and many luxurious resort services. Compared to the spending of international visitors, the cost of traveling to Phu Quoc is not too high.

Mr. Huy said that since the second half of October, the number of international tourists to Phu Quoc has been quite positive. The Kien Giang Tourism Association has recorded that many of its affiliated units have welcomed groups of tourists from Taiwan and Malaysia. In addition, some tourism businesses on the island have reached out to international visitors, especially from Korea, through KOLs (influencers) or advertising on Naver - the country's leading search engine.

"That is a reasonable way to keep up with modern trends," said Mr. Huy.

After 9 months of 2023, Phu Quoc welcomed more than 470,000 international visitors, up 257.9% over the same period and exceeding the annual plan by 34.4%. Although the international visitor situation is quite positive, many tourism workers on the "pearl island" said that they cannot depend on international visitors. According to them, the number of international visitors is not abundant enough to fill the gap from domestic visitors. Therefore, in addition to attracting international visitors, Phu Quoc also needs solutions to promote the growth of domestic visitors.

Tu Nguyen

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/khach-quoc-te-thich-phu-quoc-4668636.html