Vietnam's resort island of Phu Quoc is in the middle of a hotel-building spree, and the deadline is written on the calendar. The island will host APEC 2027 — the annual gathering of 21 Asia-Pacific economies — in November 2027, and developers are racing to have thousands of new rooms ready before the delegations arrive.
The biggest project is Sun Group's Ruby Beach complex at Bai Dat Do on the island's southern coast. The first phase alone calls for 17 towers and more than 7,000 rooms, pulling in international brands including Marriott International. If later phases go ahead, the site could grow to nearly 20,000 rooms — a staggering number for an island that was, until recently, a fairly sleepy beach destination.
Sun Group and Marriott are clearly betting on more than one summit. The two companies signed a framework agreement last month to study further hotel projects together in Phu Quoc, Da Nang and other Vietnamese destinations. That builds on a March deal covering 10 hotels and resorts with close to 4,500 rooms across Phu Quoc and Vung Tau, scheduled to open between 2026 and 2030.
There is a catch, though, and analysts are saying it out loud: not all of these rooms may find guests once the APEC spotlight fades. Phu Quoc has enjoyed a genuine surge in visitor numbers, helped by visa-free entry and a wave of direct flights, but a supply jump of this size carries real risk. Industry watchers expect some properties to struggle with occupancy in the years after 2027 — which, for travellers, could translate into serious bargains.
Why should a holidaymaker care? Timing is everything here. Expect a rush of shiny new resorts opening between now and 2027, often with aggressive introductory rates as brands compete to fill towers. For anyone who has been curious about Phu Quoc's beaches, night markets and pepper farms, the window around and shortly after APEC could deliver five-star stays at three-star prices, especially outside the December-to-March high season.
The flip side: if you're planning far ahead, it's worth watching which projects actually open on schedule. Mega-complexes of this scale routinely slip, and the properties most likely to discount hardest after the summit will be the ones furthest from the island's established hubs around Duong Dong and the northwest coast.
For now, the takeaway is simple. Phu Quoc is about to get a lot more hotel beds — thousands of them, many wearing recognisable international flags. Book into the new openings while rates are soft, and you may catch Vietnam's island boom at its most generous moment.
