After a months-long break due to COVID-19, Phu Quoc City off the coast of Kien Giang Province in southern Vietnam has been reviving as visitors are set to come in droves to the island to celebrate the Lunar New Year festival, which is due around late January and early February.

According to Nguyen Minh Tam, director of a company in An Thoi Ward on the touristic island, his speedboat service has been operating again for two months.

Currently, his company operates two to three speedboats to serve a total of 40 to 50 visitors every day.

"During Lunar New Year festival days, people will gather to have a good time, so I will run all of my ten speedboats," Tam said.

Many lodging facilities in Phu Quoc have offered discounts to draw travelers, according to a survey by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

Nguyen Thi Ut, owner of a hotel in Duong Dong Ward, said that her room rate has fallen from VND500,000 (US$22) to VND350,000-400,000 ($15-18) per night.

Bui Quoc Thai, director of the Kien Giang Department of Tourism, stated that an estimated 80 percent of the room capacity of Phu Quoc accommodation establishments have been reserved for now till the 6th day of the next lunar year.

Thai sent a document to local businesses calling on them to have ways to attract travelers, such as adjusting the prices of accommodation and entertainment services and other service rates, in order to stimulate demand on the occasion of the Lunar New Year festivities.

He underlined that quality must become better even when the price has been cut.

"We will continue to accompany and support businesses in welcoming international and domestic visitors in the near future," Thai promised.

He also suggested airlines to maintain flight routes and collaborate with accomodation facilities and travel agents to reduce the cost of lodging and travel in order to lure domestic tourists.

According to Tran Van Thang, deputy director of U Minh Thuong National Park in Kien Giang Province, eco-tourism and recreational fishing in the park will be open to guests from 5:30 am on Thursday.

Guests must guarantee that they have got two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or have recovered from the respiratory disease within six months of arriving in the province.

Meanwhile, Ho Van Luc, head of Kien Luong District's Culture, Sports, and Radio Broadcasting Center, said that the Hang Pagoda tourist area on Phu Tu Islet will reopen to the public on January 28.

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