Britain’s TUI Travel and Italy’s Alpitour World, two famous European travel firms, will launch weekly chartered flights taking tourists from the UK and Italy to Phu Quoc Island off Kien Giang Province late this year. 

A boat is seen taking tourists to Phu Quoc Island off Kien Giang Province. More chartered flights are being organized to transport tourists to the beautiful island

Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism(VNAT), said the two travel agents have worked with VNAT over a plan to open the two new air routes while attending ITB Berlin travel exhibition which took place in Germany from March 8 to 10.

TUI is scheduled to take British tourists to Phu Quoc on chartered flights on a weekly basis from next November and it also has worked with five big resorts there in preparation for the upcoming plan.

Meanwhile, the Italian firm will launch a similar plan to bring visitors from Italy to the Vietnamese beautiful island this December.

Representatives of the two travel agents have had meetings with VNAT to propose cooperation and hoped the Vietnamese tourism agency to give support in terms of promotional programs and administrative procedures so as to facilitate the plan, Sieu told the Daily on March 15 after his return from ITB Berlin.

This is a positive sign for Phu Quoc Island’s tourism industry as the two European travel firms have strong customer bases, Sieu added.

Besides, TUI is expected to bring around 8,000 Britons to Phu Quoc in the first year of chartered flight operation.

After the working trip, VNAT is ready to work with the authorities of Kien Giang Province along with some travel companies and hotels there to boost cooperation between the province and foreign counterparts in an effort to promote the image of Phu Quoc Island, and arrange services for European travelers to Vietnam on chartered flights later this year.

SGT