exploiting tourism from mango and tangerine gardens

Mango and tangerine gardens - impressive destination

Cao Lanh mango and Lai Vung pink tangerine are familiar names to the people of the Land of Pink Lotus. In recent years, Dong Thap province has introduced many types of plants into festivals, increasing opportunities for the locality to exploit agricultural tourism. Based on their inherent strengths, many mango and tangerine gardeners have boldly invested in becoming destinations to welcome visitors.

Tourists visit and experience the pink kumquat garden in Long Hau commune, Lai Vung district. (Photo by Huu Tuan) — Tourists visit and experience the pink grapefruit garden in Long Hau commune, Lai Vung district. (Photo: Huu Tuan)

Currently, mango is one of the main crops of Dong Thap province, mango is widely distributed in districts and cities such as Cao Lanh district, Cao Lanh city... The local mango growing area is about 14,841 hectares; output reaches 166,502 tons/year; ranked 2nd in the Mekong Delta region in terms of output; Accounting for 18% of the mango growing area in the region. according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP safety standards, OCOP certification,...; granted a growing area code.

Meanwhile, in Lai Vung district, which is famous for growing red tangerines, although the area is not as large as mango, in recent years, many families have boldly grown red tangerines for tourism exploitation. Currently, Lai Vung has more than 200 hectares of red tangerines, with an estimated output of 5,000 tons, concentrated in Long Hau, Tan Thanh, Tan Phuoc, Hoa Long, Hoa Thanh and Vinh Thoi communes. It is expected that the area of red tangerine cultivation will increase in the coming time.

Tourists visit and experience mango gardens in Dong Thap. (Photo: PV)

Mr. Nguyen Van Mach, My Xuong commune, Cao Lanh district said that the mango garden is more than 8,000 m2 with mainly Cat Chu mangoes. His garden opened to welcome guests in April 2022 and has welcomed thousands of visitors to visit and experience. Visitors to the mango garden will experience the stages of mango care such as: hoeing, pruning branches, bagging fruit, participating in the game of packing mangoes for export, etc. and enjoy ripe mangoes or attractive dishes made from mangoes such as: mango ice cream, mango sticky rice, mango smoothie, dried mango, etc.

Mr. Dao Nhat Linh, residing in Long Thuan hamlet, Long Hau commune, said that he planted 300 pink tangerine trees intercropped with 1,000 tangerine trees on an area of about 20,000m2, the initial investment cost was up to more than a billion VND. In recent years, especially when the pink tangerines ripen, his family opens the door to serve visitors and experience.

Lai Vung roses (Dong Thap) only ripen at the end of the year, at this time many tourists will come to visit. (Photo by Huu Tuan) — Lai Vung persimmons (Dong Thap) only ripen at the end of the year, at this time many visitors will come to visit. (Photo by Huu Tuan)

Not only Mr. Mach's family grows mangoes, Mr. Linh grows pink grapefruit, but many people in Dong Thap province have boldly invested, instead of the old business method, switching to growing and doing tourism business, creating an impression on tourists inside and outside the province.

Fun experience

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said that when she came to Dong Thap, she only thought that there were only lotus flowers here. After the tour guides introduced the mango and pink grapefruit growing areas, she could visit and experience them. Everyone was excited to go sightseeing.

Experience harvesting mangoes at mango garden attractions. (Photo: PV)

Experiencing the discovery of mango gardens in Cao Lanh district, a young person from Can Tho said that visiting mango gardens in hot weather is really enjoyable, creating a refreshing feeling, relieving the heat. In addition, you can experience entertainment activities and cuisine typical of the West.

Many owners of mango and pink grapefruit gardens share that doing experiential tourism is more difficult than purely agricultural production, requiring meticulous care, attention, and nurturing of each tree until it blooms, bears fruit, and creates eye-catching landscapes to attract visitors.

Mr. Doan Van Kiet, owner of the red tangerine garden in Long Hau commune, Lai Vung district, said that before opening to visitors, he only did the care work, but when opening to visitors, he did many jobs by himself, including being a tour guide and cleaning the garden. When the red tangerine season comes, his garden welcomes thousands of visitors every day to experience it.

Ms. Ho Hue Thu Hang - Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Cao Lanh City said that in the city, there are many mango gardens for tourism purposes, but human resources are limited in quantity and skills, so the gardeners' tourism activities are not as effective as in other localities.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dong Thap province said that according to the tourism development project, it will contribute to building the image of the province in the period of 2023 - 2025, with a vision to 2030. By 2027, we strive to complete the construction of a geographical indication system for the province's typical products such as "Thap Muoi Lotus", "Cao Lanh Mango", "Hong Ngu Catfish", "Sa Dec Flowers", "Hong Lai Vung Mandarin", "Chau Thanh Longan", thereby orienting the development of tourism space, products and routes.

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