Can Tho promotes cultural and ecological resources in tourism development

Can Tho City, when merged, possesses many resources for tourism development. Accordingly, cultural and green tourism products are being focused on by many travel agencies. The local tourism industry also has appropriate development plans.

Tourists experience the Death Anniversary tour on the islet in Con Son. Photo: KIEU MAI

Building diverse cultural tourism products

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong, General Director of Hai Au Can Tho Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Company Limited, commented: “ Can Tho City currently has many resources to build a diverse system of tourism products. Cultural tourism products still have a lot of room for development, if promoted properly, they will create their own colors.”

Accordingly, river culture is emphasized with distinct colors gradually moving towards the West of the Mekong Delta and flowing into the sea. Can Tho (old) with the inland water element of the riverside urban area, exploiting experiential products associated with floating markets, along canals, floating islands... Hau Giang (old) is associated with canals, flooded areas. Meanwhile, Soc Trang (old) has protective forests, seaports, deep-water ports with diverse ecosystems: fresh, brackish, salty, creating unique experiences.

At the same time, the mark of Can Tho City when merged is cultural resources. This area is home to ethnic groups such as Kinh, Hoa, Khmer, Cham, etc. This creates diversity in culture, lifestyle and local customs, which is a condition for building many cultural tourism products with their own identity. These differences are easily seen in the architecture of houses, pagodas, places of worship, cuisine, and types of performing arts.

For example, in performing arts, Can Tho stands out with folk songs and lullabies; while Hau Giang has Aday singing; and Soc Trang has Khmer Ro Bam and Du Ke theater arts, or Chinese art forms... If these resources are well utilized and promoted in building tourism products, it will create a unique highlight for Can Tho, especially products associated with night-time economic activities, extending the length of stay of tourists.

Mr. Truong Van Vinh, Director of Ido Travel Can Tho, said: "Can Tho City is lacking night activities and needs to have unique, periodic shows to attract tourists."

Mr. Tran Thanh Thai, Director of Mekong Smile Tourism Trading Joint Stock Company, said: “Can Tho has a lot of tourism resources and has not yet fully exploited its value, especially cultural tourism products. With the cultural colors of the localities when merging, the construction of tourism products will be more interested by travel agencies. From the perspective of local travel, we have surveyed and built many products bearing the imprint of indigenous culture, such as the Death Anniversary on the Islet at Con Son, the Essence of Rivers with routes to explore floating markets, river routes, etc. In the long term, we are still building many new itineraries and products with longer routes to bring diverse experiences to tourists”.

Tourists experience the Death Anniversary tour on the islet in Con Son. Photo: KIEU MAI

Focus on green tourism and digital technology application

Mr. Truong Van Vinh, Director of Ido Travel Can Tho, said: “Building unique and distinctive products is necessary, but we also need to focus on green tourism. Green tourism not only promotes sustainable development but is also a unique feature of the Mekong Delta, which is being greatly affected by climate change. We have a diverse ecosystem and developing green tourism will contribute to preserving this resource.”

Sharing the same view, Mr. Tran Thanh Thai, Director of Mekong Smile Tourism Trading Joint Stock Company, shared: “When researching the market, we also grasped the trend of green tourism becoming increasingly popular, especially among international visitors. We are currently surveying and building green tourism products in Phong Dien, Lung Ngoc Hoang and Cu Lao Dung, in which indigenous cultural factors and environmental protection will be the highlights.”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong, General Director of Hai Au Can Tho Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Company Limited, said: “The factors of climate change, food security and environmental responsibility in the Mekong Delta region are of interest to international visitors. Therefore, we are also building many tourism products related to these contents.”

The product research department of Hai Au Can Tho Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Company Limited has surveyed agricultural community tourism models in Cu Lao Dung, orienting the development of tourism products to experience agricultural livelihoods under the forest canopy combined with ecological restoration and environmental regeneration.

“Based on reality, we have researched and created products that closely follow tourists’ tastes but still retain local characteristics. Tourism businesses at this time are also forced to be proactive in approaching tourists, in which we apply digital in many programs so that tourists have multiple experiences, and the journey will have more impressions,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong emphasized.

Hai Au Can Tho Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Company Limited is developing many new programs to change the way tourists approach familiar destinations, such as Study Tour with a journey to explore cultural and historical relics in Can Tho City based on digital maps combined with games and social networks; or Smart Farm with unique experiences associated with high-tech agriculture in Can Tho (old) and Hau Giang (old).

In the new tourism space with many changes, Mr. Tran Thanh Thai, Director of Mekong Smile Tourism Trading Joint Stock Company, said: "With the new space, travel agencies are forced to adapt and improve, including digitalization in many activities".

Thus, Can Tho currently has a lot of room to develop a variety of tourism products. However, the locality needs to have a master plan to redefine the product system and key investments. Accordingly, the Can Tho tourism industry is also reviewing and building a survey program for local products, initially grasping the situation and having appropriate proposals and orientations for tourism in the coming time.

AI LAM

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/can-tho-phat-huy-tai-nguyen-van-hoa-va-sinh-thai-trong-phat-trien-du-lich-a188602.html