Approximately 150 international visitors aboard the Le Jacques Cartier passenger cruise ship arrived in Phu Quoc City off Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam on Thursday morning to explore the beauty and local life of the island city.

Le Jacques Cartier, built in 2020 and currently sailing under the flag of Wallis and Futuna, a French island chain in the South Pacific, docked at Duong Dong port in the namesake ward at around 7:00 am.

During their stay in Phu Quoc, these cruise visitors, mostly hailing from France, the UK, and the U.S., are scheduled to visit Ho Quoc Pagoda, Phu Quoc Prison; experience the local culture and fishing life in Ham Ninh, a century-year-old fishing village in the island; and sample local seafood, said Bui Trung Dung, the employee in charge of cruise ship and yachts services at Mekong Agency Company.

He added that Phu Quoc has become a popular destination for cruise passengers from France.

Around 150 international visitors boarding the Le Jacques Cartier passenger cruise ship arrived in Phu Quoc City off Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam on February 22, 2024. Photo: Trung Dung

Statistics from the Kien Giang Province Department of Tourism showed that Phu Quoc served 21,485 tourist arrivals from France last year.

The Vietnamese island city recently welcomed a host of international cruise tourists, according to Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of the Phu Quoc administration.

Phu Quoc is working to enhance its public security and environment hygiene, as well as encourage local travel businesses to regularly improve their service quality and launch more new products to better serve tourists, Hung said.

Between February 2 and 9 this year, two five-star cruise vessels, namely Costa Serena and AIDAbella, both currently sailing under the flag of Italy, carried nearly 3,500 international visitors from Germany, Thailand, the U.S., China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to Phu Quoc to enjoy the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, which ended on Sunday last week.

A close-up of the Le Jacques Cartier passenger cruise ship, which is currently sailing under the flag of Wallis and Futuna, a French island collectivity in the South Pacific. Photo: Trung Dung

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!