2.7 million tourists visited the Mekong Delta thanks to integrated tourism.

On December 10th, the People's Committee of Ca Mau province and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City jointly organized a conference to "Summarize the program of linkage and cooperation for tourism development between Ho Chi Minh City and 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta" with the theme "Enhancing linkages - Sustainable development".

According to Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism , in 2023, domestic tourists continued to dominate in experiencing the culture, ecology, waterways, and cuisine of the Mekong Delta, primarily exploited by tourism and travel businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, with over 2.7 million tourists visiting the Mekong Delta region.

Ca Mau Cape Tourist Area

However, some key initiatives, such as the plan to organize an international investment promotion conference for tourism in Ho Chi Minh City and the 13 provinces and cities of the Mekong Delta; building a common tourism promotion website for the entire region; and a regional tourism stimulus conference, have not been implemented due to the impact of other professional matters and coordination issues.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet, Director of the Southwest Region, Saigontourist Travel Service Company, assessed: Information about the surveyed destinations is still quite limited. Local authorities need to provide more images and information; and they need strong enough pricing policies to attract tourists.

Mr. Le Thanh Phong, Deputy Director of the Mekong Delta Tourism Association , commented: "The region's tourism still has long-standing shortcomings, such as local tourism products being developed mainly based on similar spatial and resource characteristics, lacking distinctiveness. Within the region, only Phu Quoc (Kien Giang) stands out and has achieved international standards."

According to Mr. Phong, the biggest bottleneck is the limited access to destinations, especially in transportation infrastructure, making it difficult to attract investors with significant potential. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly define the spatial linkage for tourism development between Ho Chi Minh City and the 13 provinces and cities of the Mekong Delta. In this regional linkage, Ho Chi Minh City will support the development of tourism resources and products. Each locality should have at least one unique tourist attraction that visitors will remember.

In his opening remarks at the conference, Mr. Nguyen Minh Luan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau province, stated that in recent times, the coordination in implementing tourism development cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and the 13 provinces of the Mekong Delta has been strengthened with many creative activities, promoting regional tourism with many positive changes, attracting the active participation of the business community and tourism associations, and creating distinctive values ​​for the domestic and international tourism markets.

The tourism products of the Mekong Delta region are similar and lack distinctiveness.

Mr. Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City, pledged that Ho Chi Minh City will strive to support the provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta through information technology to introduce them visually and effectively to international tourists. The focus will be on regionally targeted introductions, highlighting unique products and destinations, rather than mass tourism. The goal is to create the most favorable conditions for tourists to feel comfortable and spend money. To attract tourists, solutions are needed to retain them and ensure their satisfaction. To achieve this, the quality of services must be improved.

Regarding future collaboration, Mr. Duong Anh Duc hopes that the tourism industry, in coordination with relevant departments and agencies, will implement measures and strategies to attract tourists. When tourists arrive, services and other sectors will develop accordingly. Therefore, appropriate investments are needed for tourism development.

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