Experts point out four reasons why tourism in the Mekong Delta has not developed despite its great potential.
Poor tourism products, poor transport infrastructure, seasonal tourism, and lack of large-scale service complexes are four reasons why tourism in the Mekong Delta is underdeveloped, according to experts.
At a press conference on the organization of the Vietnam - Can Tho International Tourism Fair 2023 on the afternoon of August 7 in Ho Chi Minh City, some experts said that the Mekong Delta has all the conditions to become the leading tourism center of the country with many potentials and unique features, most notably eco-tourism. However, this region is still considered a "lowland" of Vietnamese tourism.
Tourists take a boat to visit Tra Su cajuput forest, An Giang. Photo: Khanh Thien
Mr. Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Tourism Association, said that many localities in the Mekong Delta have not yet invested in building tourism products while still saying that their provinces are rich in resources and have great potential.
"Tourists do not go to see the potential, they buy services and enjoy what the locality has to offer. To attract tourists, businesses need to go to each place to survey and exploit natural resources and local culture to create unique tourism products," said Mr. Binh, comparing the Mekong Delta with the Northwestern or Northeastern provinces. According to him, in recent years, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lai Chau... have made great strides in tourism development.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtours, commented that the Mekong Delta still faces many difficulties in developing tourism despite its rich resources. The reason is poor transport infrastructure, making travel from Ho Chi Minh City to the Western provinces "not very convenient". The distance between provinces in the region is short, only a few dozen kilometers, but traffic jams occur continuously, lasting for hours.
Tourism in the West has always been seasonal. Mr. Hoan said that tourism in the region mainly exploits products focused on the flood season from October to December, other times there are no special activities. Localities have diverse cuisine, many unique cultural features but "there are no highlights, visitors only visit 1-2 times and rarely return", do not know how to exploit more widely in the low season or do not know what products to introduce at that time.
In addition, the Western provinces do not have large-scale tourism service complexes. Tourism businesses only focus on exploiting individual groups of 15-20 people, making it difficult to reach large groups of MICE tourists.
Because of their small scale, most community tourism products are “show-stopping”, while today’s tourists focus on authentic experiences.
According to Mr. Hoan, to take advantage of the potential and "awaken" tourism in the West, localities should develop regional tourism. Each province and city should identify typical products in terms of landscape, relics or cuisine, then combine them to create linked products.
In addition, to create a breakthrough for the whole region, it is necessary to attract large investors and build large tourism complexes. Mr. Hoan gave examples of Nha Trang being invested in by Vinpearl, Cat Ba having Flamingo, Da Nang having Ba Na Hills, all of which are attractive destinations for domestic and foreign tourists. Currently, entertainment areas in the West are mainly public places.
"It is necessary to strongly develop waterway tourism and river resorts. This is a characteristic of tourism in the West. It is possible to combine the development of the route from Chau Doc, Ha Tien to the southern provinces of Cambodia, and develop tourism products along the Mekong River. In addition, the Mekong Delta has a strong sea frontage but has not fully exploited its potential. It is necessary to identify and invest in developing separate product groups such as sea tourism, river tourism, community tourism, and eco-tourism," said Mr. Hoan.
Bich Phuong
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