'Hearing that Phu Quoc has a power outage, many visitors do not dare to come'

A group of tourists watch the sunset at the beach bar located on the coast of Truong beach (Phu Quoc special economic zone), June 2023. Photo: Duy Hieu .

Immediately after some areas of Phu Quoc special economic zone ( An Giang province) fell into a state of widespread power outage from the afternoon of November 29 due to a problem with the 110 kV Ha Tien - Phu Quoc underground cable, many tourists decided to cancel their rooms despite having paid deposits, while some guests staying in the middle of the holiday also left the island early.

Up to now, some areas such as Cua Duong, Cua Can, Bac Dao… still have power outages, making customers even more apprehensive.

At Mai Phuong Phu Quoc Resort (Vung Bau beach, old Cua Can), Mr. Phan Ho Minh Duc, representative of the unit, said that 20-30% of guests who had booked rooms chose to cancel, even though the unit had announced remedial measures.

"Hearing that the island had lost power, many guests did not dare to come. We were forced to refund room fees or deposits. Some guests who were staying there also decided to end their vacation early because they saw that the power was unstable," Mr. Duc shared.

To retain guests who accept to stay, resorts are forced to waive some services such as meals or internal service fees to reduce inconvenience. However, damage to image is inevitable.

As Phu Quoc enters the peak tourist season at the end of the year, the prolonged power outage has left a series of accommodation establishments in a passive position. The resort, which only has one backup generator, cannot handle all 35 rooms during the peak tourist season. The unit was forced to rent a large-capacity generator from the mainland, at a cost of 2 million VND/day, plus 30 million VND for the crane to transport it.

"We cannot afford to invest in a large generator that costs billions. Renting the machine is difficult, transporting it to the island is even more difficult. Currently, the resort only uses electricity for essential needs, and laundry must be rented out to the South of the island," said Mr. Duc.

The resort has a space close to nature, attracting international tourists from many countries. Guests can experience conical hat painting, swimming, and SUP at the resort. Photo: Mai Phuong Resort Phu Quoc.

Despite maximum savings, the resort still has to spend 5-7 million VND per day on generator fuel. "At this point, we are not talking about profit or loss anymore. Our goal is just to ensure guests have electricity and water so they are not uncomfortable. Going on vacation and losing electricity and water is unacceptable," he emphasized.

The large campus helps the generator location to be far away from the resort, reducing noise somewhat, but concerns about the guest experience are still constant.

Located in the Suoi May area (Duong To, old Phu Quoc), Santa Garden Resort is also in a similar situation. Running a large capacity generator for 53 rooms causes operating costs to increase rapidly, while noise and forced downtime create a lot of inconvenience for guests.

"Tourists pay for services, not sympathy. Just a 1-2 hour power outage due to a machine downtime can affect their experience. The long-term consequences are that they can leave bad reviews, affecting the unit and the local tourism image," said Ms. Ty Nguyen. In the past two days, the resort has spent about 5 million VND on generator fuel.

Arriving in Phu Quoc at the exact time the island lost power, Hiep My’s family, a tourist from Hanoi , said that this was an unexpected incident so they could not blame anyone. Hiep said their experience was not affected much because they spent most of their time outdoors.

"The weather in Phu Quoc is very nice, the wind is cool so it's not too uncomfortable. When I got back to my room at night, the hotel had electricity," Hiep shared. On this trip, the family stayed 2 nights in the South of the island and 1 night in old Duong Dong.

The couple stayed in Duong Dong for a day when the area lost power, but their experience was not affected much because they spent most of their time exploring the outside landscape. Photo: Hiep My Family.

This is the third time his family has returned to the island. Compared to previous tours, this self-guided trip feels more comfortable. He said that each time he returns, the island has more places to play and experience, but some island tours are not as pristine as the first time, especially the island exploration tour.

An Giang Electricity Company has isolated the underground cable line for inspection and mobilized maximum human resources, specialized equipment and implemented load regulation, prioritizing power supply to the central area and important infrastructure, but full restoration still needs more time.

The power outage occurred at the exact time when Phu Quoc entered its most beautiful season, when the sea was calm and less affected by the northeast monsoon. This is also the season when tourists from Eastern Europe, Russia, Korea, etc. come to warm seas to spend the winter, creating a strong growth in the number of visitors to the pearl island.

In the first 11 months of the year, Phu Quoc welcomed nearly 7.6 million visitors, up 35.2% over the same period. International visitors alone reached 1.86 million, up 93.6%, far exceeding the yearly plan. Total tourism revenue is estimated at VND43,879 billion , up 104% compared to 2024.

The advantage of beautiful beaches, 30-day visa exemption policy and an increasingly expanding direct flight network helps Phu Quoc attract tourists from more than 150 countries and territories such as Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Dubai, Uzbekistan, Singapore, India, Russia...

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