Phu Quoc most searched by Vietnamese travelers for year-end holiday

Vietnam’s largest island Phu Quoc topped a list of 10 most searched destinations by Vietnamese travelers for the year-end holiday season, according to a report from U.S. tech giant Google.

The central beach city Da Nang came in second, followed by southern economic hub Ho Chi Minh City, Google said in the report.

The results were based on the frequency of searches on its online flight booking service called Google Flights from mid-December 2023 to mid-January 2024.

Thailand’s Bangkok ranked fourth and Japan’s Tokyo came in fifth. The rest of the top 10 were Hanoi (Vietnam), Sydney (Australia), Singapore, Siem Reap (Cambodia), and New York (the U.S.).

Situated to the south of the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc was Vietnam’s first island city that has long been famous for its long, sandy beaches and upscale resorts. It is also home to a marine sanctuary and a national park popular with trekkers.

In 2012, the government opened an international airport in Phu Quoc and started offering a 30-day visa exemption for foreigners that resulted in tourism boom on the island with an array of high-end resorts and entertainment complexes springing up like mushrooms.

A series of Asian stars recently flocked to Phu Quoc, helping to boost its international fame.

This month, Phu Quoc Island ranked third in The Travel magazine's list of 17 most budget-friendly tourist islands worldwide, while the island was honored by American travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler as one of the best to visit this year.

Its increasing popularity also prompted Vietnamese carriers to launch new direct routes connecting the island with Asian tourist hubs.

Vietjet Air recently announced to open new routes linking Phu Quoc to South Korea’s Busan and Taiwan’s Taipei from December.

The number of foreign arrivals in Phu Quoc nearly tripled year-on-year to more than 470,500 in the first nine months of this year.

Vietnam’s tourism industry has been witnessing strong rebound. In the first nine months of this year, the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling abroad reached over 3.8 million, up 2.5 times year-on-year.

Vietnam welcomed 8.9 million foreign tourists in the period, surpassing the yearly target of 8 million. With the tourism industry already exceeding this year’s target, insiders expected Vietnam could welcome 12 million international tourists by year-end.