“It was a spectacular performance, even more captivating than in Las Vegas,” said Selcuk Iscimen, CEO of the renowned Turkish travel company Dorak Mice, comparing Phu Quoc to the “world entertainment capital” of Las Vegas, USA, after watching the Sea Kiss show in Sunset Town.
Murzabekov Dauren, a businessman from Kazakhstan, shared: “Phu Quoc is not only a destination for entertainment, but also offers a sense of privacy with exclusive experiences - something that high-end tourists and businessmen from Kazakhstan like myself value highly.”
Selcuk Iscimen and Murzabekov, along with 6 million other tourists who visited Phu Quoc in 2024, will have different perceptions of the region. However, one thing they can all agree on is that Phu Quoc's appeal is steadily rising.
The “Sea Kiss” show and fireworks display illuminate the Phu Quoc night sky
A Favorite Among International and Domestic Tourists
Travel enthusiasts will surely remember that less than a year ago, Phu Quoc appeared in the Chosun newspaper of South Korea with the heartbreaking nickname “the nation’s stepchild”. This is understandable, as at that time, Phu Quoc was frequently featured in domestic media with sensational headlines such as “price gouging”, “overcharging”, “pollution”, etc.
But by the end of the year, Phu Quoc’s turnaround surprised everyone. According to statistics from the online booking platform Booking.com, Phu Quoc is among the top 3 destinations most sought after by Vietnamese tourists for the Tet holiday in 2025, with a growth of 180% compared to the same period last year. The international tourist market shows even more positive news, as the international airport and seaport are overflowing with foreign visitors.
On December 18, Phu Quoc welcomed 2,000 tourists on a cruise ship, while on December 20, two new flight routes opened from Singapore and Xi’an, China. Phu Quoc’s flight schedule is showing vertical growth, with the island welcoming up to 30 international flights daily, compared to 2-5 flights per day in 2023.
Phu Quoc tourism booms with many new international flights
For domestic media, Phu Quoc is now a popular destination, a new resort and entertainment center of the region and the world, a destination for high-end global tourists. International media has even more praise for Phu Quoc, such as the reputable US travel magazine - Travel+Leisure putting it in the top attractive islands in the world only after Maldives, or top 10 most wonderful islands in Asia according to Conde Nast Traveller.
A spectacular journey of transformation
The recent growth in tourist numbers and the trust of domestic and foreign tourists is the clearest evidence of the island's progressive spirit and determination to revive tourism after the pandemic. In 2024, Phu Quoc city has taken many drastic measures in urban planning, many campaigns to control the quality and tourism services, as well as promoting tourism products to key markets.
However, removing the negative label is only one of the city's persistent efforts in its journey to become a new world destination. The transformation of the island needs a more objective view, with a journey measured in decades, along with the concerted efforts of the local government, investors and people.
Dining by the sea and watching an adventurous arts and sports show combined with fireworks is one of the most attractive experiences on the island.
If 10 years ago, the island did not have a 5-star hotel, now the island has 700 establishments with over 24,000 rooms, including 29 hotels meeting 4-5 star standards with over 13,000 rooms, countless entertainment areas with billions of dong invested.
Taking the example of a "growth pole" of Phu Quoc is the south of the island, no one can imagine that the place that gathers 5-star resort complexes, magnificent architectural works and entertainment complexes with the highest investment in Vietnam used to be a poor fishing village lacking electricity, beaches filled with garbage and services stopped at zero.
The milestone marking the transformation of the southern island can be mentioned in 2016, when Sun Group inaugurated the first 5-star resort on the island - JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay. Nearly a decade later, the picture of a modern, classy southern island continues to be painted with new colors. Bai Kem, Mui Ong Doi and the pristine Dat Do beach now have 5 five-star resorts, managed by leading global brands such as Marriott International, Accor, Rosewood Hotels, Curio Collection by Hilton.
The once underwhelming Bai Dat Do is now Sunset Town, Phu Quoc’s top tourist destination, boasting iconic structures, the Vui Phet night market, the international Nụ hôn của biển cả (Sea Kiss) show, and the Bản giao hưởng đại dương (Ocean Symphony) which treats visitors to two dazzling firework displays every night.
In December, Sun Group officially broke ground on the Khao Vong building in Hon Thom, with a total investment of 13,000 billion VND. It is expected that within the next two years, this will become a luxurious resort-entertainment-commercial complex offering million-dollar experiences. That same month, the group also brought the Rixos brand—known for its "royal" resort experiences—to Vietnam and Phu Quoc for the first time, to manage a future luxury all-inclusive resort in Hon Thom.
The Khao Vong building in Hon Thom, with a total investment of 13,000 billion VND, is expected to become a luxurious resort complex offering million-dollar experiences
Looking at the graph of tourist arrivals in Phu Quoc, from less than 600,000 visitors in 2014 to 10 times that, reaching approximately 6 million in 2024, shows how the island has truly "broken out of its shell." With its ideal location at the center of Southeast Asia, stunning natural beauty, a visa-free policy for international tourists of up to 30 days, and unparalleled tourism infrastructure investment, Phu Quoc’s future as a tourist paradise, directly competing with Bali and Phuket, is not far off. This is similar to how Mr. Mehmet Kin - Vice Chairman of Crystal Bay Group - commented: “I believe that within the next 5 years, Phu Quoc will go from a regional destination to a global one.”
