KIÊN GIANG — The world’s longest sea cable car route connecting An Thới Town and Hòn Thơm Island in the southern province of Kiên Giang’s Phú Quốc Island District was inaugurated yesterday, reducing travel time by half compared to speed boats.

The sea cable route is nearly 8.9 kilometres long, thought to be the longest in the world, with one end in An Thới Town and the other in Hòn Thơm Island, the largest in the An Thới island cluster to the south in Phú Quốc. 

The maximum speed of the cable car system can reach 8.5 metre per second so the total time from the start to the final station is just 15 minutes. The system has 69 cars capable of carrying 30 passengers each and uses modern three-rope cable car technology. 

The cable car system is the first item of the Sun World Hòn Thơm Nature Park in the southern area of Phú Quốc Island invested by real estate developer Sun Group. 

The system and Sun World Hòn Thơm Nature Park will officially open to tourists on February 14, two days before Lunar New Year. 

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Phạm Vũ Hồng said that such new tourism products would help attract more tourists to Phú Quốc.

In January, nearly 260,000 tourists came to Phú Quốc Island, a year-on-year rise of 51 per cent. International tourists increased by 40 per cent against the same period last year. On average the district welcomed about 7,000 holidaymakers each day. 

Located on the Việt Nam-Cambodia-Thailand marine economic corridor, Phú Quốc is dubbed the “pearl” island. 

It features a monsoon tropical climate. It has two seasons, the dry season from November to April and the rainy season from May to October. 

Phú Quốc National Park is one of the most attractive places in the district. It is home to 929 plant species, of which 42 are listed in the Vietnamese and world red books of endangered species. The park is part of the Kiên Giang biosphere reserve, which was recognised as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2006. 

Phú Quốc Island district aims to serve at least half a million international tourists in 2018, according to local authorities. — VNS