Experts advise on strategies to help Can Tho tourism "take off"

(Dan Tri) - Product uniformity, broken infrastructure, unprofessional service staff,... are some of the problems Can Tho tourism is facing.

Can Tho, known as the "core" of the Mekong Delta (MD), with the status of a class I urban area directly under the Central Government and the role of transit, receiving and distributing tourists . However, Can Tho tourism in particular and the MD in general have not yet developed commensurate with their potential, lacked breakthroughs and have not made an impression on the international tourism map.

To find a solution to this problem, Dan Tri reporter had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Tran Hoang Phuong, Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research and Development, about strategic suggestions to help the "nucleus" of the Mekong Delta make a breakthrough.

Preserving and developing floating markets is no longer a direction but a task that the Can Tho tourism industry must do, according to the Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research (Photo: Hoang Duat).

Unable to retain tourists due to product uniformity

Mr. Nguyen Tran Hoang Phuong commented: "The richness of the Mekong Delta is an invaluable asset for Vietnam's tourism industry. However, despite possessing unique river landscapes and distinctive garden culture, tourism in this region has yet to take off. The core reason lies not in the resources, but in the quality of tourism products. Anyone who comes to the West after visiting a few provinces can easily fall into a state of boredom because of the 'similarity' between the experiences."

According to the Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research, the product homogeneity crisis stems from the fact that localities all exploit the same formula, leading to a repetitive experience model. Tourists to any province in the region are almost served the same "menu": Visiting fruit gardens, rowing boats through canals, traditional music, reformed opera and a few local dishes.

Mr. Phuong cited that tourists can visit a rambutan garden in Vinh Long , then visit a strawberry garden in Can Tho. In essence, the core experience is still going by boat, picking fruit and listening to an introduction about the fruit. The difference in fruit types is not enough to create an emotional push or a strong motivation for tourists to extend their stay or come back a second time.

Second, in addition to the landscape, Mr. Phuong pointed out, even famous Intangible Cultural Heritage such as Don ca tai tu is organized in an almost uniform pattern in eco-tourism areas. When cultural experiences are not organized creatively, personalized, and tell different stories according to each locality, it will quickly become saturated.

This lack of “distinctiveness and uniqueness” is a major blow to repeat visitors, according to Mr. Phuong. If tourists feel they have had enough of Tien Giang, they will no longer have a reason to spend more time and money exploring further in An Giang or Can Tho. This is a situation where provinces compete directly with each other on the same, undifferentiated product, instead of working together to create a series of complementary, attractive products for the whole region.

"When provinces and cities play the same piece of music, Can Tho wants to sing a better song on that music sheet, it has to create its own unique melodies," Mr. Phuong shared.

Along with the homogeneity of products is the problem of low service quality. Can Tho’s tourism products are being operated at basic standards, mainly to meet the easy-going needs of domestic tourists, but completely lacking international standards to attract high-quality customer segments.

The shortage is clearly shown through a number of limitations, first of all is the limitation of information, it can be seen that the sign system at tourist attractions is often sketchy, lacking in details, specifics and importantly, lacking a quality English version. This creates a language barrier, making it very difficult for foreign tourists to explore on their own.

Mr. Nguyen Tran Hoang Phuong, Director of the Institute of Social Tourism Research (Photo: Facebook character).

Third, core services such as boats, river cruises, or accommodation facilities do not meet strict safety and hygiene standards, and are not safe and provide basic amenities.

Fourth, according to Mr. Phuong, the main tourism product is fading away, making Can Tho tourism less and less attractive. A typical example is Cai Rang Floating Market - a typical tourism product facing a serious risk of "fading away". The number of trading boats and ships has decreased, activities are less vibrant, making the tourism experience less valuable. This situation leads to the consequence that tourists only want to visit the floating market "once and never come back", threatening the sustainability of one of the most unique destinations in Can Tho.

The above factors have created a barrier, preventing the regional nerve center from attracting the international tourist segment with high spending capacity. Making visitors only see Can Tho as a stopover, a transit point and not a spending point.

These tourists demand experiences that go hand in hand with safety, professionalism, and high-quality service. When Can Tho cannot provide these values, this valuable flow of tourists will shift to other destinations in other regions, where service quality has been internationally standardized.

To make a breakthrough, according to the director, Can Tho tourism in particular and the Mekong Delta in general need a revolution from the roots, starting with breaking down product homogeneity and focusing on building high quality standards.

Can Tho, in particular, as the "core", needs to be a pioneer in creating differences and "specializing" experiences.

Ninh Kieu Wharf at night (Photo: My Han).

Strategic "gateway" is frozen, inner-city infrastructure is broken

In the context of modern international and domestic tourism, aviation infrastructure is a prerequisite to determine the accessibility and market size of a destination.

Can Tho has a strategic advantage in owning Can Tho International Airport. However, Mr. Phuong also assessed that this strategic infrastructure has not been fully exploited and still only operates as a domestic airport with a small number of flights.

Infrastructure bottlenecks will reduce the direct access of tourists to a tourist destination. On the other hand, limited international functions make Can Tho lose the ability to directly receive international visitors from potential markets such as Northeast Asia (Korea, Japan), Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia) or Europe. International visitors are forced to fly through major centers (Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi), increasing the time, increasing costs and reducing the overall attractiveness of the trip.

Can Tho Airport is deserted despite the festival season (Photo: Hoang Duat).

To be more clear, Mr. Phuong gave the example of Da Nang, whose airport has become a true "international gateway", connecting directly to dozens of international cities. The boom in Da Nang tourism in recent years is closely linked to the ability to access by direct air.

"If Can Tho Airport cannot escape the situation of an under-utilized airport, Can Tho will forever be held back and will not be able to compete fairly with other tourist cities," Mr. Phuong commented.

Although inter-regional road infrastructure has been improved (through expressway projects), the lack and weakness of the public transport system within Can Tho City is another bottleneck, causing the inner-city infrastructure to break down.

"Tourists, especially international visitors or independent tourists, need a quality public bus system with wide coverage and reasonable prices to move between tourist attractions (such as Ninh Kieu wharf, floating markets, and garden tourist areas). When this system is lacking and weak, tourists are forced to rely entirely on taxis or technology-based motorbike taxis, increasing costs, reducing autonomy and making tourists feel inconvenient," said Mr. Phuong.

According to Mr. Phuong, many tourist attractions, especially orchards or new eco-tourism areas, are located deep in alleys, requiring compact, flexible public transport or a dedicated tourist bus system to connect. This absence makes new destinations difficult to access, reducing the diversity of tourism products.

He also gave examples of Bangkok (Thailand) or Singapore, where the subway and public bus systems are perfectly integrated into the tourism system. Tourists can easily buy travel cards and travel to most attractions at low cost and high convenience. The fact that Can Tho does not have a similar system makes this city lack the tourist-friendliness and modernity required of a first-class urban center.

Infrastructure, including both air (airport) and inner-city roads (public transport, roads and tourist attractions), is the necessary condition for Can Tho tourism to promote its great potential.

Can Tho night market is surrounded by stalls selling clothes, bags, and shoes, lacking local characteristics (Photo: My Han).

Only when strategic infrastructure is invested and exploited effectively, Can Tho will have enough capacity to welcome a large number of high-quality visitors, truly becoming a leading tourist center in the entire Mekong Delta region.

According to Mr. Phuong, the top strategy is to focus on developing Can Tho Airport into an international hub. This requires mechanisms and policies to attract international flights, increase frequency and diversify routes.

"Only when Can Tho Airport can maximize its role as an international aviation gateway, will this 'core' have enough 'potential and resources' to receive and distribute a large number of high-quality passengers to the entire region. At the same time, developing inner-city public transport is necessary to ensure convenience for tourists," said Mr. Phuong.

Visitors to Can Tho should be welcomed in "Can Tho's own style"

The director also said that Can Tho needs to establish a set of uniform standards for the entire restaurant and hotel system to ensure professional service quality. However, the strategic focus is to create a set of standards that bear Can Tho's own mark.

This identity must be expressed through every visitor touch point, from the way of reception.

"For example, visitors to Can Tho are welcomed with lotus/water lily flowers, small gifts symbolizing the locality, and typical drinks such as a cup of banh lot tea or a traditional cake. This helps tourists not only consume services but also 'buy' a cultural experience that cannot be found elsewhere, creating emotional value and difference," Mr. Phuong shared.

The Director of the Institute for Tourism and Social Research also believes that no matter what solutions or suggestions are made, people are always considered the fundamental factor that creates the success or failure of the tourism industry anywhere.

Because of this, the city needs to focus on training tourism workers to have "the right knowledge and mindset" about service. Service attitude must be fundamentally and thoroughly improved: always "smile" when communicating with customers, give "clear" and enthusiastic instructions.

Along with that is the construction of a system of information and tourist guides that must be "specific and detailed", not only in Vietnamese but also in standard English. Setting up a full information support center is an essential solution for tourists to easily access and experience the most convenient tourism.

In addition, to escape the situation of "similar" products, Can Tho needs to focus on developing highly specialized products with quality service standards.

Mr. Phuong said that the city also needs to change the way it does communication. Instead of doing mass communication, which is costly and ineffective, the marketing strategy needs to have a clear focus.

"It is necessary to identify the core and most unique values ​​of Can Tho to create sharp communication messages. The strategy must focus on target markets, avoid spreading, to maximize efficiency and create a strong Can Tho tourism brand identity," he said.

The synchronous implementation of these solutions will open a new chapter for Can Tho tourism, where tourists not only come but also want to "return" for unique, quality experiences bearing the mark of the Mekong Delta.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/chuyen-gia-hien-ke-chien-luoc-de-du-lich-can-tho-cat-canh-20251027220440216.htm