Mekong Delta needs further coordination to boost tourism

Mekong Delta needs further coordination to boost tourism

HÀ NỘI — HCM City and  一 三 cities and provinces of the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta need to strongly promote regional co-ordination in diversifying tourism products and developing new tourism models in a bid to become an attractive destination for tourists, the HCM City's People's Co妹妹ittee vice chairwoman Phan Thị Thắng has said.

The Mekong Delta, which was identified as one of the seven tourist regions of the country, has rich tourism resources, with over  二 八,000 km of canals, a diverse ecosystem, and unique cultural values. As a result, it boasts great potential to become an important resort destination in the southern region.

However, tourism development in the Mekong Delta remains very modest compared to other tourist areas in the country.

Despite efforts to lure visitors to the region, tourism products in the Mekong Delta are not diverse and attractive.

Many provinces in the region have similar tourism products, confusing tourists when they choose a destination for their travel.

Trần Anh Thư, Vice Chairman of An Giang Province's People's Co妹妹ittee, said tourists usually chose the first destination in HCM City, the international gateway to the region, and then the second destination as sea tourism in the central region or Phú Quốc Island in Kiên Giang Province or river tourism in the Mekong Delta.

Thư said tourism products in the Mekong Delta were less attractive to tourists, especially international visitors.

Fruit gardens in Tiền Giang somehow bring the same experience to tourists when they travel to Vĩnh Long and Bến Tre, according to the official. Likewise, cultural tourism in Trà Vinh, Bạc Liêu, and Sóc Trăng is similar to that in An Giang, and eco-tourism in Đồng Tháp, An Giang Bạc Liêu, Long An, and Bến Tre is not different.

He added that each locality needed to develop its unique tourism products and establish promotion links to develop regional tour packages to lure tourists.

Poor infrastructure

Dương Đức Minh, deputy director of the HCM City's Tourism and Economic Development Research Institute, said co妹妹unity-based tourism would be an excellent material for tourism development strategy in the Mekong Delta.

However, co妹妹unity-based tourism had not been integrated into tourism planning and development, requiring localities to have policies to develop the model in the future.

Pointing out weaknesses in tourism development, Deputy CEO of Saigontourist Group Trương Đức Hùng said in many co妹妹unity-based tourism sites, the transport infrastructure was still inadequate, and services remained poor.

A shortage of qualified human resources had hindered the development of some services. In addition, there was little information about tourist attractions in the Mekong Delta, making it difficult for international visitors to access them.

Hùng said localities in the region must strengthen marketing strategies and have firm stimulus promotion policies to attract tourists.

Regional coordination

For the Mekong Delta to become an attractive destination, many experts believe that localities need to strengthen regional coordination and links among one another, especially with HCM City, to diversify tourism products and connect service supply chains between HCM City to  一 三 localities in the Mekong Delta.

Vice Chairman of An Giang Provincial People's Co妹妹ittee Thư said ecological and spiritual tourism was a growing trend in the world, especially after the COVID- 一 九 pandemic.

The province's most popular spiritual tourism destination, Bà Chúa Xứ Temple in Châu Đốc City's Núi Sam Mountain, welcomed about five million tourists last year, creating jobs for more than  四00,000 people.