Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island now accommodates over 10,000 foreign visitors
Wednesday, March 11, 2020, 16:32 GMT+7
Phu Quoc Island off southern Vietnam is harboring more than 10,000 foreign visitors despite a 30 percent slump in international tourist arrivals to the province administering the island because of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The coronavirus is taking a toll on tourism in Kien Giang Province, located in the Mekong Delta, said Nguyen Duy Linh Thao, director of a local center charged with promoting investment, trade, and tourism.
Kien Giang, which administers the paradise island Phu Quoc, welcomed 1.6 million tourist visits in January-February, 114,900 of which were international arrivals, a 30.6 percent drop year on year, Thao elaborated.
Fewer visitors will come to Kien Giang in general and Phu Quoc in particular in March and the following months, owing to the COVID-19 epidemic.
The center has cooperated with the Vietnam Community Tourism Chapter on Phu Quoc in finding safe places for tourism promotion in Kien Giang.
Tourist industry insiders from nearby provinces like Dong Thap, An Giang, Can Tho, and Ca Mau, the Vietnam Community Tourism Chapter, and 200 companies in the Mekong Delta have conducted field trips to attractions on Phu Quoc in the same bid to revive tourism.
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| Foreign visitors on Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. Photo: Khanh Nam / Tuoi Tre |
Deals have been clinched between tourist companies on Phu Quoc and the Delta region regarding the development of the tourist industry.
More international arrivals have been coming to Phu Quoc than other destinations given the coronavirus outbreak, Pham Van Nghiep, the island’s vice-chairman, said.
Over 10,000 visitors from France, Germany, Russia, China, South Korea, Italy, and more are staying in Phu Quoc.
“They chose Phu Quoc maybe because of its rather hot and dry climate, which makes them feel safe when COVID-19 has battered many countries,” Nghiep said.
“Precautions against the disease are being strictly taken, however.”
There is no active case of COVID-19 in Kien Giang, according to local authorities.
Health facilities have quarantined 22 people in the province, eleven from Phu Quoc.
Three have been discharged after 14 days – the advised incubation period of the virus.
Three hundred and six other people are in quarantine at home, or in other forms of accommodation, in stable health.
Vietnam has confirmed 35 infections, 16 of whom have fully recovered and been discharged.
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