River and garden advantages
This was her first time in Can Tho, so Linda (French) was very excited to experience Cai Rang floating market - a famous river tourist destination in the West. At around 5am, Linda and her family were taken by a tour guide to Ninh Kieu tourist wharf to board a boat to visit the floating market.
International tourists experience the traditional craft village of making noodles at Sau Hoai facility ( Can Tho City).
The boat moves slowly on the Can Tho River so that visitors can admire the city center and check-in photos at dawn, the golden sunlight creates a poetic scene. About 30 minutes, the boat arrives at Cai Rang floating market, where nearly 200 boats are anchored on a wide stretch of the river to trade agricultural products from vegetables to fruits such as durian, rambutan, mangosteen, star apple, Ha Chau strawberry... In addition, it also serves tourists breakfast on the river with noodles, vermicelli, bread... Witnessing the floating market activities on the river with the gentle and simple female traders, Ms. Linda was extremely excited. She and the guests from France are very fond of the specialty fruits of this region; in addition to enjoying them on the spot, they also took many souvenir photos with the floating market people; bought specialty coconut candy, honey, and some handicrafts as gifts. “The culinary experience on the river in the morning and being immersed in the vibrant atmosphere of the floating market is wonderful,” Ms. Linda shared.
Leaving Cai Rang floating market, the tour guide took the group to Sau Hoai eco-tourism area (An Binh ward), famous for its specialty noodle pizza serving international visitors. Mr. Huynh Huu Loi - owner of the eco-tourism area, introduced to visitors about the traditional noodle making village in the area for decades and the process of researching and processing noodle pizza to meet the culinary needs of Western visitors. He also personally guided visitors to experience the method of making noodle cakes, how to dry and cut noodles into small strands, and vacuum-pack them for long-term preservation. "Every day, the eco-tourism area welcomes about 200 international visitors with the cost of visiting the craft village being 5,000 VND/person and enjoying noodle pizza being 50,000 VND/portion, which is a price that many visitors consider not high," Mr. Huynh Huu Loi confided. Mr. Loi added that in addition to going to the floating market and the noodle village, tourists can visit the nearby Vam Xang fruit garden to enjoy dozens of varieties of oranges, tangerines, sapodilla, grapefruit, mangosteen, strawberries, etc., depending on the season; participate in activities such as pulling nets, lifting nets, fishing, bailing ditches, and preparing rustic dishes; and experience garden life with farmers.
In Dong Thap, river tourism is also being exploited to bring tourists to visit the islands or take a boat around Tram Chim National Park, Xeo Quyt relic site... The day we went to the rural market in Cao Lanh ward on Saturday afternoon, we witnessed 70 stalls of many women selling nearly 200 items of local products such as vegetables, fruits, and many rustic dishes such as shrimp noodle soup, pancakes, tet cakes, banh it, phu the cakes, mussel porridge, cool water... with prices of only 5,000-10,000 VND/portion, attracting thousands of tourists from near and far, including international tourists. Ms. Anna Baehni - a Swiss tourist said that she really likes the cool and poetic atmosphere of the island surrounded by the vast Tien River. Many dishes are simple but delicious, you can eat them forever without getting bored. It is really interesting to experience a river area with many green trees like this.
In recent years, Vinh Long has also focused on taking tourists to the islands to visit beekeeping areas, drink honey tea, experience the coconut candy production process, take a sampan along the canals, enjoy fruit and listen to traditional music... staying with farmers in the river region.
Need fundamental and methodical strategy
According to the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, in 2024, the whole region will welcome more than 52 million visitors, of which about 2.81 million are international visitors; total revenue from tourism activities will be more than 62,000 billion VND. This result is contributed by the river tourism model; however, the attraction of tourists and the value gained are still modest, not commensurate with the advantages of the region.
An Giang tourism industry organizes a boat racing festival during the flood season to attract tourists.
The reason is explained by tourism experts as the lack of in-depth investment, so river tourism products are still monotonous and unattractive; many places do not have a systematic development strategy, mainly spontaneous and fragmented exploitation, so services are still poor, tourism infrastructure is limited. The Mekong Delta has the densest river network in the country, but many river sections have not been dredged, leading to sedimentation, low clearance of bridges on some river routes, affecting the circulation of tourist vehicles, especially boats staying on the river; at the same time, there is a lack of investment in landscape on both sides of the river on tourist routes.
Dr. Tang Tan Loc, Head of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and Communications (Tay Do University) said: “The Mekong Delta needs to pay more attention to festivals and cultural activities along the river, because they are important factors in the lives of river residents. These activities not only reflect the local cultural identity, but also create great potential for river tourism. Typically, the festival to worship Ba Thuy Long has an important spiritual meaning, to thank the Water God for giving people abundant water and a prosperous life; or the Ok-Om-Bok festival of the Khmer people with moon worship rituals, Ngo boat racing and folk art activities, which are also important tourism highlights; traditional boat racing activities on the river are typical cultural features... All can promote and attract visitors to the rivers of the West”.
According to Mr. Phan Dinh Hue, Director of Vong Tron Viet Tourism Company, river tourism is one of the most attractive forms of tourism in the world, but we have not yet fully exploited it. To develop it, we need to focus on investing in infrastructure, especially wharves and developing river tourism products. In addition, we need to pay more attention to the "river resort" model, because resort tourism on cruise ships with bedrooms is one of the high-end tourism forms in the world. Currently in Can Tho, there is the Victoria cruise ship with 34 luxury bedrooms, running the Can Tho - An Giang - Phnom Penh (Cambodia) route and 3 Bassac cruise ships with a capacity of about 64 guests of TransMekong Company, running the Cai Be (Dong Thap) - Mang Thit (Vinh Long) - Ben Ninh Kieu (Can Tho) route. These cruise ships mainly serve international guests, with prices starting at 5 million VND/person/day. If the West develops this type well, the value it brings will increase significantly.
Mr. Tran Tuong Huy, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research (Vietnam Tourism Training Association) noted that based on the advantages and potential of the Mekong Delta region in developing river tourism, it is possible to form 4 main centers to connect within the region, including My Tho cruise port (Dong Thap); Vinh Long passenger port; Can Tho tourist cruise port and Chau Doc tourist cruise port (An Giang). Thereby, building 22 routes connecting to these 4 centers to spread throughout the region. In addition, the important issue is planning and developing river tourism products to attract tourists and increase revenue, because for a long time, some places exploiting river tourism mainly take tourists on boats and look, admire... while the revenue is not much, due to the lack of attractive and valuable products.
Lessons for developing river tourism in the Mekong Delta
Dr. Le Thi To Quyen, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (Can Tho University) said that the Mekong Delta needs to study the experience of developing river tourism in the world, thereby creating differences in river tourism products. To create differences, it is necessary to rely on local culture, apply history, customs, and traditions to tourism products and services; apply cultural values of people's lives, tourism services to natural landscapes, and river tourism products. Experience in Korea creates various types of river tourism events and festivals for tourists to experience; while Thailand creates many activities on river routes for tourists to participate in. Therefore, the Mekong Delta can increase river tourism events and festivals, and should have stops to experience activities such as visiting relics, gardens, enjoying local cuisine, as well as traditional art forms.
In Australia, river tourism products are developed in a variety of lengths, including experiences of night activities. Meanwhile, in the Mekong Delta, river tourism focuses mainly on the morning, in the evening there are only cruises for tourists to experience sightseeing, enjoy cuisine and sing on the river. In the future, it is necessary to develop more nighttime river tourism products by diversifying nighttime floating market activities such as products to experience the nightlife of merchants, moon-watching tours, watching fireflies on the river, nighttime fishing tours on the river, etc.
Experiences in developing river tourism in the world such as France, Australia, Korea, Thailand... are valuable lessons for Can Tho City and the Mekong Delta provinces to study and apply creatively and effectively in the actual conditions of their localities...
Article and photos: PHUOC BINH
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/khai-thac-tiem-nang-nganh-cong-nghiep-khong-khoi-o-dbscl-a188265.html
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