A policy to grant a 30-day visa exemption for foreign passport holdersvisiting Phu Quoc Island off the coast of the southern province of KienGiang from March 10 is expected to help transform the world-famoustourist destination into a national and international hi-end holidayheaven.
The exemption is part of specificmechanisms and policies included in a recent decision by the PrimeMinister to develop Phu Quoc Island into a specialadministrative-economic zone by 2020.
OnFebruary 14, the first international direct flight, run by Russia’s IKARairlines, with 250 Russian tourists onboard landed at Phu QuocInternational Airport, which is capable of catering for modern aircraftlike the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-400.
Theinitial weekly service on Boeing 757 is expected to have four flightsrunning per week by the end of this year, according to Dao Viet Dung,Director of the airport.
Meanwhile, passengershailing from Hanoi, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and Ho Chi MinhCity are offered a variety of services provided by Vietnam Airlines,VietJet Air and Jetstar Pacific, which operate 25 flights using A321,A320 and ATR72 planes in and out of the destination every day.
The island, dubbed “Paradise Pearl Island”, is now included in theeight-day Vietnam voyage itinerary of the luxury Europa II cruise, whichservices more than 750 customers and crew, mainly German, per tour,Saigontourist has said.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based travelcompany said the Hapag-Lloyd-operated ship Hanseatic, with around 1,000passengers onboard, will dock at the island on April 23.
Inthe meantime, hotels and resorts on the island are having 3,000 hotelrooms, including 2,000 three-star rooms. However, the figure andservices infrastructure do not yet meet visitors’ demands during thepeak season.
Realising the strength of spectacular pristinebeaches and breathtaking landscape on the island, provincial authoritieshave taken moves to make holidaymakers feel more comfortable.
One of those is the installation of a 110kV undersea cable networkconnecting Phu Quoc with the national grid that will reduce the localpower price to the level on the mainland by the second quarter of 2015.
This will largely help cut the cost of services andreel in investment from in and outside the country for the developmentof the island, said Lam Hoang Sa, Vice Chairman of the Kien Quangprovincial People’s Committee.
In 2013, Phu Quoc welcomed 94,000 foreign visitors out of its total 416,000 arrivals.
Phu Quoc is Vietnam’s largest island. The 574 – sq.km heart-shapedisland, along with 22 other islands, forms Phu Quoc island district.
Phu Quoc features a monsoon tropical climate. Ithas two seasons, the dry season from November to April and the rainyseason from May to October. The average temperature there is 28 degreesCelsius, allowing visitors to enjoy the island’s beauty at any time ofthe year.
In December 2012, PhuQuoc International Airport officially became operational, replacing thelocal airport in Duong Dong town on the island. It can serve 2.65million passengers a year.
Phu Quoc National Park is one of the most attractive places in the district.
It is home to 929 plant species, of which 42 are listed in theVietnamese and world red books of endangered species. The buffer anddevelopment zones also have a diverse marine ecosystem, home to ninespecies of seaweed that are feed of the indigenous dugong. The park ispart of the Kien Giang biosphere reserve, which was recognised as aWorld Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2006.
Coral reefs that are home to around 260 species cover an area of morethan 470ha, stretching the length of Phu Quoc Island on its north-southaxis. The coral reefs are inhabited by more than 150 species oftropical fish, including many of commercial value. There are also 48species of mollusc, 25 of echinoderm and more than 50 of seaweed.
By 2020, the island is expected togross 771 million USD from providing hospitality services to 2-3 milliontourists annually, 40 percent of them foreigners.-VNA
The exemption is part of specificmechanisms and policies included in a recent decision by the PrimeMinister to develop Phu Quoc Island into a specialadministrative-economic zone by 2020.
OnFebruary 14, the first international direct flight, run by Russia’s IKARairlines, with 250 Russian tourists onboard landed at Phu QuocInternational Airport, which is capable of catering for modern aircraftlike the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-400.
Theinitial weekly service on Boeing 757 is expected to have four flightsrunning per week by the end of this year, according to Dao Viet Dung,Director of the airport.
Meanwhile, passengershailing from Hanoi, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and Ho Chi MinhCity are offered a variety of services provided by Vietnam Airlines,VietJet Air and Jetstar Pacific, which operate 25 flights using A321,A320 and ATR72 planes in and out of the destination every day.
The island, dubbed “Paradise Pearl Island”, is now included in theeight-day Vietnam voyage itinerary of the luxury Europa II cruise, whichservices more than 750 customers and crew, mainly German, per tour,Saigontourist has said.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based travelcompany said the Hapag-Lloyd-operated ship Hanseatic, with around 1,000passengers onboard, will dock at the island on April 23.
Inthe meantime, hotels and resorts on the island are having 3,000 hotelrooms, including 2,000 three-star rooms. However, the figure andservices infrastructure do not yet meet visitors’ demands during thepeak season.
Realising the strength of spectacular pristinebeaches and breathtaking landscape on the island, provincial authoritieshave taken moves to make holidaymakers feel more comfortable.
One of those is the installation of a 110kV undersea cable networkconnecting Phu Quoc with the national grid that will reduce the localpower price to the level on the mainland by the second quarter of 2015.
This will largely help cut the cost of services andreel in investment from in and outside the country for the developmentof the island, said Lam Hoang Sa, Vice Chairman of the Kien Quangprovincial People’s Committee.
In 2013, Phu Quoc welcomed 94,000 foreign visitors out of its total 416,000 arrivals.
Phu Quoc is Vietnam’s largest island. The 574 – sq.km heart-shapedisland, along with 22 other islands, forms Phu Quoc island district.
Phu Quoc features a monsoon tropical climate. Ithas two seasons, the dry season from November to April and the rainyseason from May to October. The average temperature there is 28 degreesCelsius, allowing visitors to enjoy the island’s beauty at any time ofthe year.
In December 2012, PhuQuoc International Airport officially became operational, replacing thelocal airport in Duong Dong town on the island. It can serve 2.65million passengers a year.
Phu Quoc National Park is one of the most attractive places in the district.
It is home to 929 plant species, of which 42 are listed in theVietnamese and world red books of endangered species. The buffer anddevelopment zones also have a diverse marine ecosystem, home to ninespecies of seaweed that are feed of the indigenous dugong. The park ispart of the Kien Giang biosphere reserve, which was recognised as aWorld Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2006.
Coral reefs that are home to around 260 species cover an area of morethan 470ha, stretching the length of Phu Quoc Island on its north-southaxis. The coral reefs are inhabited by more than 150 species oftropical fish, including many of commercial value. There are also 48species of mollusc, 25 of echinoderm and more than 50 of seaweed.
By 2020, the island is expected togross 771 million USD from providing hospitality services to 2-3 milliontourists annually, 40 percent of them foreigners.-VNA
