Tourism businesses in Phu Quoc City, off Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam, are ramping up efforts to stimulate tourism demand for the upcoming summer, after tourist arrivals to the island city during the recent five-day holiday fell short of their expectations.

Diep Nguyen Quoc, director at Minh Huy Phu Quoc Tourism Trading Company, said on Sunday that his hotel's occupancy rate just reached some 40 percent during the five-day holiday in celebration of Vietnam’s Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

Another tourist site operated by the company in Hon May Rut Ngoai Island, located in Phu Quoc, served around 700 visitors per day during the holiday, lasting from April 27 to May 1, Quoc added.

Given the lower-than-expected travel demand during the recent holiday, many other tourism operators in the island city voiced their concerns over a possible weak demand this summer.

Tran Van Phuoc, owner of an eatery in Duong Dong Ward, feared that tourism-related household businesses could experience hardship if the number of visitors to the island dwindles.

Quoc said that he would work with tourism service providers to revise tour prices to boost the summer travel demand.

The director underlined the need for local authorities and airlines to set airfares more appropriately, explaining that the current high prices of tickets for flights to Phu Quoc would drive tourists away.

Nguyen Thi Bich Dieu, vice-president of the Kien Giang Tourism Association and director at Dong Noi Tourism Company, said that travel agencies in Phu Quoc had launched a tourism promotion program called ‘Happy Phu Quoc,' offering multiple promotions.

The program includes tours to explore primeval forests, tours in the Duong Dong River and Rach Tram River, and road tours to visit the Mekong Delta region.

Local tourism businesses also made efforts to regularly enhance their products and services, invite travel agencies to Phu Quoc to explore the island city, and host tourism promotion events to woo more domestic and international visitors to the island, Dieu elaborated.

The Kien Giang Center for Trade Investment and Tourism Promotion revealed that it set up booths to promote Phu Quoc tourism at travel trade fairs held in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

The center called on local tourism businesses to partner with carriers and high-speed boat operators to offer special deals to attract tourists.

The administration of Phu Quoc coordinated with relevant agencies and travel companies to organize tourism promotion events as well.

Phu Quoc is seeking the green light from the central government and ministries to consider offering visa exemption for 90 days to international visitors to the island, said Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of the Phu Quoc administration.

During the five-day holiday, Kien Giang welcomed more than 270,000 tourist arrivals.

Domestic tourist arrivals accounted for over 248,000, dipping 3.6 percent over the same period last year.

Phu Quoc served an estimated 125,860 tourist arrivals.

Kien Giang recorded a 55.3 percent room occupancy rate and booked close to VND590 billion (US$23 million) in tourism revenue, according to data released by the provincial Department of Tourism.

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