Con Son - where local identity touches the hearts of tourists

With no luxury resorts or grandiose man-made structures, Con Son attracts tourists with its rusticity, hospitality and community tourism model, where each resident is a tourism ambassador.

In the middle of the gentle Hau River, Con Son (Binh Thuy Ward, Can Tho City) has been a unique highlight on the Mekong Delta tourism map over the past decade.

With no luxury resorts or grandiose man-made structures, Con Son attracts tourists with its rusticity, hospitality and community tourism model, where each resident is a tourism ambassador.

From a spontaneous idea, the people of Con Son have together "woven" an impressive 10-year journey, turning everyday livelihoods into unique experiences, spreading the cultural beauty of the river garden to domestic and foreign tourists.

From ordinary to "special"

The journey to Con Son is a return to the most simple and genuine things.

Visitors to Con Son only need a few minutes by boat from Co Bac wharf to enter the cool green space of fruit-laden gardens, where each house is an interesting stopover, and each farmer is an enthusiastic tour guide.

It is the model of strong community ties, focusing on common interests, that has turned ordinary everyday things like baking, tending gardens, raising fish on rafts, etc. into unique and attractive tourism products, strongly spreading the image of a generous and affectionate West.

The tourism path of the people of Con Son sprouted naturally from their own lives and sharp thinking when a group of students came here to make a video clip with the theme "A day as a farmer" in 2014.

Footage of fruit picking and making simple country cakes made the people of Con Son suddenly realize that their familiar jobs are the unique attractions that urban tourists are always looking for.

In 2015, the idea of community tourism was officially launched. Initially, only 7 households boldly participated, discussed, gave opinions and shaped the first steps.

People established a group called "Intergenerational Self-Help Club" chaired by Ms. Phan Kim Ngan (commonly known as Bay Muon).

Ms. Bay Muon, now Director of Con Son Agricultural Tourism Cooperative, recalls: "The initial stage was extremely difficult.

Few customers, no experience, many team members are discouraged, want to give up. We have to encourage each other, keep working hard, treat customers with sincerity, and gradually everything will get better."

The turning point came in 2016, when a member of the team's "flying snakehead fish" model was widely known and introduced by the media.

That same year, Mrs. Bay Muon's Banh Kep Cuon won the Silver Medal at the Southern Traditional Cake Festival, bringing unexpected fame. From these two "boosts", more and more tourists began to visit Con Son.

To operate professionally and systematically, in 2022, the Association developed into "Con Son Agricultural Tourism Cooperative."

The rice grains in Con Son help visitors return to their childhood. (Photo: Thanh Liem/VNA)

Up to now, the cooperative has become a strong common home of 230 members and collaborators, including 20 official members and 130 on-site tour guides, sharing benefits, experiences and responsibilities together.

The core point that makes Con Son different and successful is the spirit of community connection. Instead of competing, the people here choose to cooperate.

Each family, with its own strengths, becomes an indispensable link. Families with orchards welcome visitors, families with baking experience open baking experience centers, families with fish rafts become places to explore rivers.

The most vivid proof of this spirit of cooperation is the "flying menu". When tourists order a meal, each dish will be prepared by a restaurant on the islet: Phuong My garden house cooks fish sauce hotpot, Song Khanh garden house fries elephant ear fish, Cong Minh garden house grills snakehead fish... When the dish is finished, someone will drive to collect each dish and bring it to the restaurant where tourists eat.

The image of carts carrying hot food baskets weaving through the village roads has become a typical beauty, demonstrating the unique "mutual benefit" model of Con Son.

Lisa Pfabigan, an 18-year-old tourist from Austria, could not hide her excitement: "The 'flying menu' experience was wonderful. The specialties here are very attractive and unique. In particular, the people are extremely enthusiastic and friendly. I feel their connection through each carefully prepared dish."

Local identity, a journey to touch the hearts of tourists

Con Son offers a rich series of experiences, imbued with the cultural identity of the river. The first destination is often the fish raft of Mr. Ly Van Bon (Bay Bon). This is not only a place to raise commercial fish but also a "living museum" of endemic fish species of the Mekong River, with many rare species such as giant catfish, giant catfish, giant catfish...

Coming to Con Son, visitors experience walking across monkey bridges across canals on the island. (Photo: Thanh Liem/VNA)

Mr. Bay Bon shared: "I want to preserve the precious native fish of the Hau River for future generations to know. Visitors coming here not only see the fish, but also learn more about fish farming on the river and the importance of protecting the ecosystem."

Here, visitors will be able to watch a spectacular performance of a basket fish hunting prey by shooting a jet of water about 1 meter high, causing the prey to fall with almost absolute precision, experience a foot massage with koi fish or touch the giant catfish weighing tens of kilograms.

Mr. Didien Longueville and Mrs. Dominique (Belgian tourists) commented: “Con Son is a very beautiful place with a diverse and rich ecosystem, bearing the unique characteristics of the Mekong River region. We are really impressed with the way people preserve and introduce their natural values.”

Leaving the fish raft, visitors come to Cong Minh's garden, where they can make traditional cakes with the guidance of Mrs. Bay Muon. With over 40 years of experience making more than 50 types of Southern cakes, she is considered an "artisan" of Con Son.

Visitors will be enthusiastically shown by her how to make each crispy sandwich by hand from "homegrown" ingredients. Another unforgettable experience is witnessing the traditional "popping" process. A loud "boom" sound resounds from the cast iron pipe and from the white smoke, the rice grains have exploded into crispy, fragrant green rice.

Ms. Pham Phuong Ly (24 years old, Thanh Hoa province) said that this was the first time she lived in a true Western space, with gentle people, a close experience without arrangement. What left the deepest impression was the sincerity and hospitality of the people.

The sustainable development of Con Son tourism is clearly demonstrated through impressive numbers. If in 2024, Con Son welcomed 43,000 visitors, then in the first 6 months of 2025, this number was 28,000, and in June 2025 alone, there were 7,000 visitors.

Regarding international visitors, in the first 6 months of 2025 alone, Con Son welcomed 4,800 international visitors, almost equal to the whole year of 2024 (5,200). This is a worthy "sweet fruit" for the tireless efforts of the local community.

Sharing with reporters of Vietnam News Agency, Dr. Tran Huu Hiep, Vice President of the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, emphasized that the success of Con Son community tourism is a vivid proof that when the community clearly identifies the value of its natural resources and indigenous culture and knows how to tell that story through authentic and creative experiences, it will create unique and sustainable tourism products.

"The people of Con Son, Can Tho do not follow a copycat model, but choose to 'start from the root.' The community here has relied on the river landscape, garden products, folk cuisine... as a foundation, then breathed into it the spirit of hospitality and solidarity," he said.

From the story of Con Son, Dr. Tran Huu Hiep believes that the lesson for other localities in the Mekong Delta, if they want to escape the "monochrome" of similarity, is to start from identifying their own identity, reorganizing community resources and connecting with regional and national tourism maps, creating attractiveness for international tourists.

Tourists watch fish hunting for prey at the Bay Bon fish raft in Con Son. (Photo: Thanh Liem/VNA)

Linking tours, destinations, sharing markets, and supplementing products will help destinations not compete against each other but together increase their value.

In particular, it is necessary to place the community tourism model in the green transformation trend. Tourism does not “exploit to the maximum” but knows how to preserve the ecosystem, reduce carbon footprint, prioritize renewable materials and energy, limit plastic waste, etc. When each locality finds and nurtures its “story” in a green and connected direction, tourism in the Mekong Delta will become a colorful picture, both rich in experiences and sustainable, with enough long-term competitiveness.

After a decade, Con Son is not only a tourist destination. It has become a symbol of the success of the community economic model, a vivid proof that when farmers work together, they not only get rich on their homeland but also preserve and spread the cultural beauty of the Southern land that has been preserved for many generations./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/con-son-noi-ban-sac-dia-phuong-cham-toi-trai-tim-du-khach-post1053902.vnp