Phu Quoc is an attractive tourist destination in the eyes of many tourists - Photo: CHI CONG
What strategy does Kien Giang have to turn Phu Quoc into a high-quality eco-tourism center and an international-class island destination?
Many things need to be done for Phu Quoc to develop international-class eco-tourism
Dr. Tang Tan Loc - Tay Do University - said that it is undeniable that Phu Quoc has a strong attraction for domestic and foreign tourists. The large number of visitors is also a problem for the locality to solve many related issues, ensuring sustainable tourism development.
Dr. Loc added that in order for tourism to break through and become an ideal destination for tourists, Phu Quoc needs to consider training, competing for human resources, and especially consider policies, support, and "retaining" high-quality labor to serve luxury international visitors to the island for entertainment and relaxation.
"In recent times, Kien Giang has also strengthened the promotion and advertising of Phu Quoc tourist destination. In this regard, I think the locality needs to have a creative promotion strategy, creating a highlight to compete with the world .
The locality needs to develop more social housing to serve workers to live and work with peace of mind, and encourage businesses to participate so that everyone can join hands to develop Phu Quoc tourism," said Dr. Loc.
Associate Professor Dr. Huynh Van Da - Can Tho University - said that in 2024, Phu Quoc will welcome nearly 6 million visitors, nearly 1 million international visitors, with total tourism revenue of more than 21,000 billion VND.
Due to the limited area and space of Phu Quoc Island, Associate Professor Dr. Da emphasized that the transportation infrastructure, airport, and waste treatment system in Phu Quoc are currently overloaded. The locality should have a more comprehensive assessment of the environment and natural resources and have a strategy to invest in waste and wastewater treatment plants properly because tourists are very concerned about the environment.
Dr. Hoang Ngoc Hien - Head of the Department of Tourism and Cuisine at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade - said that if Phu Quoc develops tourism strongly, local people will benefit from facilities, transportation infrastructure, healthcare and economic development.
"However, to develop high-quality eco-tourism, I think the locality needs to pay attention to investing more in modern medical infrastructure. Besides developing the night-time economy, there needs to be solutions to solve related problems of noise pollution and waste pollution. We need to pay attention to network security and online fraud to ensure the rights of tourists," Dr. Hien suggested.
Enterprises propose a series of solutions for a green Phu Quoc
Mr. Pham Duc Huy, Deputy General Director of Sun Group in the Southern region, said that the most important thing for Phu Quoc right now is infrastructure and speeding up the upgrading and expansion of Phu Quoc International Airport (Phu Quoc Airport) because this is an important bottleneck to bring tourists to Phu Quoc. When tourists arrive, the locality will have a better way to handle it.
Localities and relevant units need to pay attention to investing in electricity, water, waste treatment projects and especially better communicating about Phu Quoc tourist destination.
"I think there needs to be a more flexible and specific visa mechanism for Phu Quoc so that international tourists traveling to the island can feel secure living, resting and working. Localities need to train and open classes to show people how to use mobile phones to use artificial intelligence to translate and communicate with international visitors conveniently," Mr. Huy shared.
A representative of VinGroup Corporation informed that with the goal of realizing the commitment of "Building a green Phu Quoc", Vinpearl Phu Quoc is synchronously implementing many green transformation solutions in operations and promoting a sustainable lifestyle at the destination.
The unit has implemented many community activities such as "Green Day - Green Wednesday" throughout the system with regular garbage collection and tree care activities; "Million green steps" on the occasion of
April 30, 2025 attracted more than 1,000 participants and the "Action for the Blue Sea" campaign in response to World Oceans Day June 8, 2025 mobilized 500 people to clean Ganh Dau beach...
Mr. Nguyen Vu Khac Huy - Vice President of Kien Giang Tourism Association - affirmed that Phu Quoc has the best natural resources for tourism and this is the "golden treasure" given to Phu Quoc by nature, from the scenery of mountains and forests, beaches to climate. The locality needs to have its own budget to promote Phu Quoc in general, build a digital cultural park. Through that, visitors only need to check the code to know all about Phu Quoc culture.
"To make Phu Quoc an international-class green pearl of Asia, the locality needs to train high-quality human resources; periodically organize short-term courses for locals participating in tourism activities so that they can serve tourists in the best way," Mr. Huy suggested.
International visitors enjoy boating in Phu Quoc - Photo: CHI CONG
How to build international eco-tourism in Phu Quoc?
Mr. Bui Quoc Thai - Director of Kien Giang Department of Tourism - informed that Phu Quoc is on a journey to strongly transform into a regional and international tourist city.
Kien Giang Department of Tourism cooperated with IDIC Joint Stock Company to establish a project "Building Phu Quoc into a center of high-quality eco-tourism, sea and island tourism of national and international stature". The project will optimally exploit Phu Quoc's tourism resources.
Thereby, localities and businesses will develop unique tourism products, diversify products, adapt to new market trends, and compete with countries in the region and the world.
Phu Quoc currently aims to welcome up to 7 million visitors by 2025. However, this beautiful island is facing great environmental pressure, Phu Quoc's global tourism standard (GSTC) is only 13%, 30% lower than Da Nang, 72% lower than Bali.
According to Mr. Thai, Kien Giang focuses on strategic orientations to position Phu Quoc as a high-quality eco-tourism center, meeting the GSTC standards of 30% (by 2030) and 70% (by 2045), developing tourism in harmony with the environment and community to compete with international destinations such as Bali, Phuket and Maldives.
The locality's project also focuses on overcoming challenges in infrastructure, environmental pollution and service quality, aiming for Net Zero by 2030, converting 100% of vehicles to electricity and treating 50% of waste with renewable energy...
Phu Quoc has welcomed more than 3.5 million visitors since the beginning of the year.
Phu Quoc has an area of nearly 600km2 - the largest island city in Vietnam. There are 321 projects with 340,366 billion VND from investors, however, this island is facing pressure on transport infrastructure, airports, seaports, environment and low global tourism standards.
Phu Quoc tourism has recently recovered and developed strongly. From the beginning of 2025 until now, the island is expected to welcome more than 3.5 million visitors, including more than 780,000 international visitors, contributing to the total tourism revenue of Kien Giang province of about 23,000 billion VND.
Phu Quoc determined to develop sustainably
According to Mr. Bui Quoc Thai, taking advantage of the opportunity to host the APEC 2027 event, Kien Giang is urgently upgrading infrastructure and developing conference tourism (MICE).
When the international airport expansion is completed, Phu Quoc will be able to welcome 10 million passengers/year (by 2030), have 2.5 million international visitors, and generate revenue of 50,000 billion VND...
The locality, in collaboration with relevant units, will train 20,000 workers (5,000 workers with green skills); apply artificial intelligence and geographic information systems (GIS) to monitor the environment, manage waste and provide online tourism information...
"We have organized a workshop to consult experts and researchers to give their opinions on Phu Quoc tourism. With determination, Kien Giang will build eco-tourism and island tourism in Phu Quoc to international standards for sustainable development," Mr. Thai believes.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phu-quoc-xanh-dong-hanh-cung-apec-2027-ky-2-du-lich-sinh-thai-tam-co-quoc-te-o-phu-quoc-20250609092832071.htm
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