Vietnam tourist island reopens to big dreams

Tour guide Lai Chi Phuc has been counting down the days until travelers return to the white-sand beaches and thick tropical jungle of Vietnam’s Phu Quoc, a once-poor fishing island pushing to be Asia’s next holiday hot spot as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ease.

Yesterday, about 200 South Koreans were to arrive on the island, which lies a few kilometers off Cambodia in the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand, after a vaccine passport scheme started this month in Vietnam.

Far from a lazy beach break, their stay promises to be a whirlwind of action and entertainment as they shuffle between a 12,000-room hotel complex, an amusement park, 18-hole golf course, casino, safari park and miniature Venice.

The…