Phu Quoc Island more attractive with new international air routes

According to the provincial People’s Committee, Bangkok Airway will launch a Bangkok-Phu Quoc route beginning October 29 on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
On November 1, the major European tour operator TUI Group will also organize a host of TUI IK Airways’ charter flights, bringing their customers to the island.
From December 19 until the end of April 2018, Italy’s travel agent Alpitour Group will use 250-seated Boeing 767 of Italy’s Neos Airline for charter flights between Milan and Phu Quoc on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Phu Quoc Island targets to lure 300,000 international visitors in 2017, up 42.7 percent year-on-year.

The committee expected that Neos Airlines alone will bring some 4,000 visitors to the island during those five months, adding that this would be a good opportunity for Phu Quoc to highlight itself as a destination.
Tran Chi Dung, director of the provincial Tourism Department, also believed while visitors from China form the biggest group of international tourists in Phu Quoc, the number of European visitors to the island is expected to surge in late this year and early next year thanks to the new air services.
Some companies specializing in the European market also gave similar information, especially when many international tour operators and airlines are heavily promoting the image of Phu Quoc Island, which will help increase the number of foreign tourists to the island in the coming time.
“Phu Quoc has become a frequently repeated name in Europe. Many companies have introduced the island in order to implement their market expansion strategies. For example, Bangkok Airways is heavily marketing Phu Quoc to make the way for its coming air route,” said Bui Viet Thuy Tien, managing director of Asian Trails Co Ltd.

More than 2.26 million tourists visited Phu Quoc in the year to September, an 8.8 percent rise compared to the same period last year. Of the figure, international tourists totaled over 242,000 arrivals, up 25.1 percent year-on-year.
In the rest of the year, the island also hopes to draw more tourists thanks to its hosting of the Miss Grand International 2017 in November.
This year, the island targets to lure over 1.8 million tourists, including 300,000 foreigners, showing a year-on-year increase of 25.5 percent and 42.7 percent, respectively. The local tourism sector aims to fetch more than VND11.15 trillion (US$499 million) in revenue this year, up 25 percent against 2016.
Mai Van Huynh, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that along with the success of the National Tourism Year 2016, the province has promoted its tourism through various channels, while investing in the sector to make it a spearhead one in 2020, with special focus on promoting infrastructure system.
The province will also focus on developing strategic products with higher quality of service, besides strengthening the protection of the environment and wastewater treatment to support sustained tourism development.