Massive tourist arrivals concern Con Dao

The island has recorded a 40% year-on-year increase in visitors over the past two years, while the development of hotels, resorts and tourist services has not been able to keep pace, Trinh Hang, director of the provincial Department of Tourism, told the Saigon Times.

Data from the tourism department showed that the number of visitors to the island may reach 300,000 this year, the target figure for 2030.

The island has had to make use of available rooms provided by local residents to serve tourists as there are only 1,200 hotel rooms on the island.

Hang attributed the strong rise in visitors to the launch of high-speed boats departing from the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang and from the southern city of Vung Tau.

Some new waterways using high-speed boat services are being prepared for service, which is expected to bring even more tourists to the island.

Accordingly, the department, when giving feedback to the provincial government on the issuance of business licenses for new tourist waterways, proposed suspending the launch of new boat services pending the completion of tourism infrastructure on the island, he said.

Also, the provincial government has asked the relevant agencies to ease procedures to execute tourism projects on Con Dao, aiming to offer thousands of fresh hotel rooms for tourists from next year.

Apart from that, the provincial tourism departments of Soc Trang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau have signed an agreement, which remains in effect until 2025, to jointly promote tours and related services between the two provinces as well as train tourism personnel for Con Dao Island, Hang added.