Phu Quoc runs out of rooms for New Year, international visitors face difficulties

On December 28, Mr. Hoang Vu, living in Hanoi, posted a post looking for a room in the North of Phu Quoc Island, but halfway through the day, no seller responded. After that, he proactively called a number of sellers on social networks but were told there were no rooms left.

“I have never encountered a situation where I was in red eyes looking for a room but no one was selling it like this time,” Mr. Vu said, saying he had to cancel his plans to travel to Phu Quoc with his family. Before that, he did not plan to go out for New Year’s Eve because he only had one day off, so he did not proactively book services in advance.

At noon on December 29, tourists from Hanoi who want to travel to Phu Quoc during the New Year (January 1-4) can still buy air tickets at the cheapest price from 5.8 million VND – about two million VND higher than usual, but still at an acceptable level according to many experts in the industry. However, finding a room at this stage is almost a failure.

According to Kim Oanh, owner of an agency specializing in selling rooms and travel combos, Phu Quoc is going through an “unprecedented hot” period. Since the announcement of a four-day New Year’s holiday, she has refused dozens of guests looking for rooms. Oanh said that if you book a month in advance, you are likely to find one, but it is also difficult to book a room at famous hotels and resorts.

Survey on Booking booking application, 99% of hotels in Phu Quoc are out of rooms during the period January 1-4, only 8 hotels have rooms, priced up to 95 million VND (villa class) for three nights. The cheapest option is a homestay in Ganh Dau, priced at 4.5 million VND three nights.

Room prices on online channels also increased significantly during the New Year period. The only remaining room of a 4-star hotel in the South Island during New Year costs 45 million VND for three nights. At the same time a month later (February 19 – February 22), the price was more than 10 million VND. Typically, hotels often divide 30%-40% of room capacity to online sales channels (OTA) and the rest to agents or other sales segments.

The phenomenon of “room fire” only occurs in Phu Quoc, while other hot spots such as Nha Trang and Da Nang still have many options. However, the number of rooms in these two destinations is 2.6 times more than in Phu Quoc. Specifically, the Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa area has 66,000 rooms, Da Nang has 65,000 rooms, while Phu Quoc has more than 25,000 rooms.

A representative of Wyndham Grand Phu Quoc, an establishment with 1,399 hotel rooms and villas, said that rooms are sold out from Christmas to after New Year. This is the first time in its 7-year history since opening that this resort has achieved an average monthly room occupancy rate of over 90% and also welcomed nearly 3,500 guests per night during the year-end holidays for the first time.

“Never before have business results grown as good as this year,” said a representative of the accommodation facility with the most rooms in Phu Quoc. During the New Year, about 90% of guests staying are foreign tourists.

The Chairman of An Giang Province Tourism Association said there are no specific statistics on the number of guests booking rooms in Phu Quoc during the New Year, but “it is definitely very large and increased sharply compared to last year”. International visitors account for the majority because it is the peak season and has a positive impact from promotion and promotion of the destination’s image.

Currently, many travel agencies also confirm that they no longer have rooms for sale even though they have held room funds early. Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Tourism, said that currently only selling retail services such as safari tickets, night squid fishing tours or cable car tickets, rooms have been sold out since last month.

“This year, Phu Quoc is booming with new markets such as Mongolia and high-end weddings of foreign guests, so the demand is huge,” Mr. Vu said, saying the number of tourists booking Phu Quoc tours through the company is 20% higher than last year.

Meanwhile, Marketing Director Bui Thanh Tu of Best Price confirmed that 1,000 nights had been sold to more than 400 guests during New Year. Mr. Tu commented that Phu Quoc is not the number one destination for domestic tourists but is booming with foreign tourists.

“Phu Quoc is now like Jeju when there are too many charter flights from abroad,” Mr. Tu said, saying a series of awards and titles from world newspapers and magazines also promote the trend of traveling to Phu Quoc among foreign tourists.

Charter flights from Bucharest (Romania) to Phu Quoc operate from December 14 to January 15 with a frequency of 10 days/trip, while from Chisinau (Moldova) start from December 19 and last until mid-March 2026 with about 18 flights. Phu Quoc is the most searched Vietnamese destination by Eastern European tourists, with searches increasing 113% over the same period last year in October-November according to Agoda.

In the first 11 months of this year, Phu Quoc welcomed nearly 7.6 million visitors, including 1.6 million international visitors, an increase of 35% over the same period and exceeding the yearly target (7.25 million visitors, including 1.2 million international visitors). The island attracts thanks to its 30-day visa exemption policy for all international visitors, convenient direct flights, beautiful natural landscapes and the peak season from October to May with beautiful sunny weather and clear blue sea.