Boat operator's profit plunges as overcharged tourists flee Phu Quoc Island

Its post-tax profit slid 42% year-on-year to VND7.8 billion ($317,000), the lowest in the last 10 years except during the Covid-hit third quarter of 2021.

Revenues were down 20% at VND91 billion.

Executives at the company, which operates 16 high-speed boats and two ferries from the mainland to four islands, said tourists are often overcharged in Phu Quoc and therefore prefer traveling elsewhere.

The profits were also hit by the unrelenting rains and storms between July and September, when there were times the company had to suspend all services, they said in the quarterly financial report.

The island has seen arrivals dwindle in recent times. During a four-day national holiday in early September, it only received 19,000 visitors, down 40% year-on-year. Only 27% of hotel rooms had been occupied.

Superdong – Kien Giang, one of the biggest boat operators in Vietnam, expects authorities in Kien Giang Province, home to Phu Quoc, to come up with solutions to revive tourism on the island.

The company plans to upgrade four boats to add more routes to its schedule this year, and buy three more boats to connect Ho Chi Minh City with Vung Tau.