Why is Phu Quoc tourism growth not commensurate with its potential and advantages?

Meanwhile, Singapore has a GDP of over 500 billion USD, per capita income of 62,113 USD, ranking 7th in the world. Singapore has also welcomed 16.5 million international tourists with tourism revenue of 22.4 billion USD, while Phu Quoc's state budget revenue in 2024 will only reach over 8,900 billion VND, equivalent to 356 million USD.

Last year, Phu Quoc welcomed more than 5.9 million tourists, of which only 962 thousand were international visitors, with tourism revenue reaching VND21,173 billion, accounting for 84% of the total tourism revenue of Kien Giang province. These numbers are very small compared to Singapore, so Singapore can be considered a model for Phu Quoc to aim for in the next few decades.

Last year, Thailand's Phuket Island also welcomed 14 million international visitors, generating revenue of up to 15 billion USD, Thailand's tourism industry contributed up to 20% of GDP, and Bali Island welcomed 6.3 million international visitors, accounting for 45% of Indonesia's international visitors, Indonesia's tourism industry contributed up to 4.1% of GDP, and this is also the place to host the G20 Summit in 2022. China's Hainan Island has built the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center and is the venue for the annual Boao Forum for Asia, which is also one of the models for Phu Quoc to set as a target for sustainable tourism development.

Phu Quoc currently has 27 4-5 star hotels, including 22 5-star hotels and resorts with 12,703 rooms, and increasingly invested commercial, service, and entertainment facilities. Earlier this year, Phu Quoc received a lot of good news such as being chosen to host the APEC 2027 Summit Week, being selected by the travel website Travel Off Path as one of the "top 5 fastest growing tourist destinations in Southeast Asia" and being honored by CNA Singapore in the "top 25 destinations of 2025". In the first 2 peak months of this year, Phu Quoc welcomed more than 1.4 million tourists, including 320,000 international visitors, an increase of more than 52% compared to the beginning of last year.

However, according to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, the tourism real estate market in Phu Quoc in particular and the whole country in general still faces many difficulties and challenges. Statistics from the Vietnam Real Estate Association show that in 15 localities, namely Hoa Binh, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Thua Thien - Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan , Ba Ria Vung Tau, Kien Giang (focusing on Phu Quoc), there are a total of 239 tourism real estate projects with more than 114,097 condotel apartments, estimated to be worth up to VND 297,128 billion and 24,399 tourism villas worth about VND 243,990 billion and 30,899 shophouses, worth about VND 154,245 billion, equivalent to 30 billion USD, "frozen" due to legal problems.

In recent years, the Phu Quoc tourism real estate market has faced many difficulties, in addition to legal problems, due to limitations in urban infrastructure, especially traffic infrastructure, commercial facilities, and services, which negatively affect the tourism development of this island. Before 2023, many 4-5 star hotels and resorts here only reached an operating capacity of 30-50% below the break-even threshold, many shophouses were left empty and unserviceable, and the problem of ensuring fresh water sources accounted for a very low proportion. Phu Quoc tourism has gradually improved thanks to policies and support from public investment from the Central Government, typically the completion of the upgrading and expansion of Phu Quoc airport (phase 1) in 2012 with a 3,000m long runway to accommodate large aircraft such as Boeing 777, with a capacity of 2.5-3 million passengers/year; Completion of the 220 kV underground power line across the sea in October 2022; completion of the upgrade project of Duong Dong reservoir with a capacity of more than 5.9 million m3 in 2022 and now Phu Quoc has been chosen as the host of APEC Summit Week 2027. With the selection to host this international event, Phu Quoc has 30 projects and works serving the event and sustainable development of the locality that have been and are being implemented.

Phu Quoc tourism is also flourishing thanks to the "eagles" who have invested in world-class multi-functional tourist accommodation facilities, typically Vingroup, Sungroup, Marriott... Ms. Dong Ngoc Anh, Deputy General Director of SunGroup, said that Phu Quoc is having a very strong development in infrastructure, being a place that gathers most of the famous hotel brands in the world. Along with the gradually completed infrastructure, other services in Phu Quoc are also being invested and developed in a diverse way to serve tourists. It can be seen that the opportunities opening up for Phu Quoc are huge. If at the end of 2023, there were only about 8 international flights to Phu Quoc every day, then at the peak of the beginning of this year, there were up to 40 international flights to Phu Quoc every day and it may increase even more in the future. But according to Ms. Anh, to turn the opportunity into reality, there needs to be a visa policy specifically for Phu Quoc. "Visitors from countries and territories around the world to Phu Quoc are exempted from visas for 30 days, but can we increase the visa period to a longer period, specifically 90 days?", Ms. Anh asked. Because many tourists coming here have a need for long-term stays, some tourists stay in Phu Quoc for 2-3 months.

Providing information that recently, there were times when tourists coming to Phu Quoc had to queue for 4 hours to get out of the airport, Ms. Anh said that there should be more open and truly effective policies for visitors to arrive easily, quickly and conveniently. Specifically, there should be a pilot program to issue visas at the border gate for large groups of visitors, luxury guests, visitors from target markets, retirees or tourism investors, technology investors, bringing high economic value. In addition, there should also be a policy to issue visas right at the border gate for visitors, creating quick procedures at the airport such as creating green lanes.

Sharing this view, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Marketing Director of Vinpearl, proposed a flexible testing policy - by season or campaign. The government should consider allowing the pilot implementation of the Visa Sandbox model in some destinations with good management infrastructure such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang or Ha Long. Testing by season or by media campaign will help us measure the actual effectiveness of the policy before expanding it nationwide.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/vi-sao-tang-truong-du-lich-phu-quoc-chua-tuong-xung-voi-tiem-nang-loi-the--i772398/