4 more typical tourist destinations in the Mekong Delta

On March 29, Economic & Urban Newspaper has coordinated with the Mekong Delta Tourism Association and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City to organize a workshop on "Building and developing tours - routes and specific products of Mekong Delta tourism" in Can Tho City.

Within the framework of the event, the Mekong Delta Tourism Association recognized and re-recognized 4 typical tourist destinations of the region in 2024.

Accordingly, Doi Tuc Dup tourist destination (An Giang province) is re-recognized as a typical tourist destination in the Mekong Delta in 2024. The remaining three newly recognized tourist destinations are My Tho Cruise Port (Tien Giang province); Ecotourism destination based on Con Ho community and Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum in Tra Vinh province.

To date, the Mekong Delta Tourism Association has recognized 53 typical tourist destinations in the region, contributing to creating motivation for sustainable tourism development.

Dr. Tran Huu Hiep, the Vice Chairman of the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, said that tourist destinations that have been newly recognized after 2 years will be re-evaluated for recognition. That poses a requirement for typical tourist destinations in the region to always invest, improve and renew existing tourism products to provide the best products for tourists.

It is estimated that in 2023, the total number of visitors to the Mekong Delta has reached nearly 45 million, an increase of 20.4% over the same period in 2022, of which more than 1.8 million international visitors. As a result, the revenue has also reached nearly VND 46 trillion, an increase of 42.6% over the same period in 2022.

Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Lan, Standing Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association, assessed that since the tourism industry reopened in March 2022, the industry has gradually recovered. In 2022, the country has served 101.3 million domestic tourists and welcomed nearly 3.7 million international tourists. Far exceeding the number of 85 million visits in 2019, and the revenue from tourism in 2022 has also reached VND 495 trillion.

By 2023, the revenue from tourism has increased, reaching VND 678 trillion. Continuing the recovery momentum, in the first 2 months of 2024, the number of international visitors has reached more than 3 million, equivalent to the same period in 2019.

To accelerate recovery and speed up development, Ms. Lan suggested that the tourism industry in the Mekong Delta should focus on supporting research, building and developing specific tourism products such as community tourism, resort tourism and cultural - history tourism.

In particular, green tourism is a great strength of the region, so focusing on developing rural tourism in building new rural areas is associated with the OCOP Program in the direction of green tourism, associated with various types of eco-tourism, tourism that connects cooperatives - craft villages to create a difference in the tourism products.

Besides, the connection between localities in the region is also to promote their own strengths, avoid duplication and boredom for tourists. Enhance competitiveness in tourism based on 3 factors of product, service quality, and tourism promotion to make the Mekong Delta soon become a unique eco-tourism area of Vietnam and the region. In addition, it is necessary to have the companionship of tourism suppliers such as transportation, aviation, and services.