​India a promising source market for Phu Quoc’s tourism: official

​India a promising source market for Phu Quoc’s tourism: official

India has always been a promising international market for tourism in Phu Quoc, an island city off the coast of Kien Giang Province in southern Vietnam.

Quang Xuan Lua (L, 3rd), director of the Kien Giang Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion Center, gives a souvenir to a representative of the Global Trade and Technology Council of India. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

Kien Giang welcomed around 5,000 Indian visitors in the first two months of 2025, a local official said at a meeting with the Global Trade and Technology Council of India on Monday.

At the meeting, the council, along with representatives from local authorities, the Kien Giang Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion Center, and travel agencies, discussed various issues on economic and trade cooperation, particularly promoting the reopening of the India-Phu Quoc air route and developing tourism to bring Indian visitors to the island city.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, deputy director of the Kien Giang Department of Tourism, said that Kien Giang welcomed over 35,000 Indian tourists last year.

Tourism and accommodation service providers in Phu Quoc have continuously developed unique, high-quality tourism products and improved service quality to meet the demands of Indian tourists.

Many Indian billionaire couples have chosen Phu Quoc as a venue for their weddings.

Thanh emphasized the need of reopening the direct air route between India and Phu Quoc to facilitate Indian and Vietnamese tourists' travel between the two countries.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta, founder and chairman of the Global Trade and Technology Council of India, said that India had cooperated with Kien Giang in various sectors, particularly tourism. The number of Indian visitors to Kien Giang has increased tenfold compared to five years ago.

He also voiced his hope for reopening the India-Phu Quoc air route to develop tourism.

According to Quang Xuan Lua, director of the Kien Giang Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion Center, Kien Giang has the potential for clean energy and renewable energy, and has advantages in rice, processed seafood, and leather shoes.

The province’s import-export turnover with the Indian market is about US$500,000, mainly from leather shoes.

Kien Giang is calling for cooperation and investment in 55 projects, including urban construction, clean agriculture, high-tech agriculture, clean energy, renewable energy, wastewater treatment, waste management, and logistics services.

"India has made strong progress in digital transformation and information technology application. We hope India will cooperate, support, and provide training in digital transformation and IT application, contributing to the local socio-economic development," said Lua.

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