Phu Quoc among 23 world's best destinations to travel in 2023

Phu Quoc ranked third in the list of 23 world's best destinations to travel in 2023 by New York-based travel magazine Travel + Leisure.

The island is also labelled as "one of the new stars of Vietnam tourism".

Phu Quoc, Vietnam's largest island off the southern province of Kien Giang, is "an enchanting place of white sand beaches, emerald forests dotted with waterfalls, rock pools, and caves. Locally known as “Pearl Island,” more than half of Phu Quoc is protected as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve," Travel + Leisure described.

"The luxury resorts here tilt towards sustainability, making it a haven for responsible travellers. The best souvenir is the destination’s famous fish sauce - buy it at a traditional fishing village like Ham Hinh, while indulging in fresh seafood," it added.

The other destinations in the list in order are: Alberta (Canada), AlUla (Saudi Arabia), Halkidiki (Greece), Lima (Peru), Jodhpur, (Rajasthan), Queensland (Australia), Manchester (U.K.), Emerald Coast (Florida), Bhutan, Alpbach (Austria), Khao Lak, (Thailand), Fukuoka (Japan), Sicily (Italy), Raja Ampat (Indonesia), Malta, Gir (Gujarat), Cape Town (South Africa), Ella (Sri Lanka), Cairo (Egypt), Sentosa (Singapore), Savannah (Georgia) and Martinique (The Caribbean).

In October, Phu Quoc was named among the top 10 best islands in Asia for Readers Choice Awards 2022 by U.S. travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler.

In July, the Vietnamese island was ranked fourth in the list of top 10 islands in Southeast Asia as voted by readers of the Travel + Leisure magazine.

Phu Quoc, also known as “Pearl Island”, was named among the 17 best places in Asia by cable news network CNN in 2019. “The island is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in Southeast Asia and the world's longest overseas cable car," it wrote.

“Besides resting on beautiful beaches like Sao beach, Long beach and Ong Lang, travelers can kayak through fishing villages, dine on fresh seafood aboard a floating platoon, go squid fishing and visit a pearl farm.”

Phu Quoc became well-known globally after the government allowed 30-day visa-free entry to the island in 2014. The island received five million visitors in pre-pandemic 2019, 541,600 of them foreigners, according to official data.