"Awakening" Southern River Tourism

River tourism is not only a journey of enjoyment, but also an opportunity to open up green economy, connect culture and develop community.

River tourism in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta has a unique natural and cultural foundation with a dense system of rivers and canals of more than 28,000 km, creating ideal conditions for the development of this special type of tourism. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, there are currently 101 waterway routes with a total length of more than 913 km, 73 ports serving passenger transport, of which 135 resources are identified as having river tourism value. This network has helped form about 60 tour programs and waterway products exploited by more than 100 businesses.

River tourism has become an inseparable cultural feature of Mekong Delta tourism.

Great potential but not yet fully exploited

However, most of them still only serve short-term needs, operate separately and lack regional connectivity. In the Mekong Delta region, river tourism is still fragmented and has not yet created a continuous product chain.

According to Mr. Tran Tuong Huy - Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research, to effectively exploit this type, it is necessary to plan routes according to regional clusters, closely following infrastructure conditions, operational capacity and especially connecting tourist flows from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta. This is not only to serve transportation but also to create comprehensive journeys of experience in culture, nature, cuisine and river life. In addition, the Institute also emphasizes the role of environmental factors in sustainable development. The landscape on both sides of the river needs to be renovated, the system of pick-up and drop-off stations must ensure standards, and especially control river water pollution, which is a prominent issue.

Statistics from recent studies show that Ho Chi Minh City has built 12 canoe tourism routes, 19 routes with accommodation on the river and plans to open 24 new routes. However, the expansion of this network is facing obstacles due to the lack of preferential mechanisms for investment in infrastructure of wharves, piers, parking lots and riverside service areas.

According to the Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Tourism Research, one of the key barriers is that provinces and cities in the region do not have close coordination in planning routes and points, leading to a surplus in one place but a shortage in another.

Regional connectivity solutions and the leading role of enterprises

Ms. Hong Thu Mai - Head of Service and Product Supply Department and Head of International Tourism Operations Department - Saigontourist Travel Services Company Limited said that this enterprise is currently operating more than 20 river tour routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta provinces. Particularly for high-end products, Saigontourist is a strategic partner of many cruise ships such as Mekong Princess, Victoria Mekong Cruise, Jahan, Pandaw... bringing experiences imbued with river culture.

However, Ms. Mai also frankly admitted: “We have many product ideas, but when implementing them, we encounter many obstacles in terms of infrastructure, lack of standard rest stops, lack of shore-side support services, and especially the lack of a clear legal corridor for inter-regional routes. If we want to develop river tourism, we must consider it an ecosystem that requires synchronous investment, not patchwork.”

Saigontourist proposed five groups of solutions: one is to upgrade the system of wharves, piers and accompanying services such as waiting rooms, toilets, shopping areas; two is to standardize accommodation ships, restaurant ships, and tourist canoes with environmentally friendly criteria; three is to develop products with local identity such as garden cuisine, handicraft villages, and traditional music performances on board; four is to apply digital technology in booking tours, locating itineraries and providing information online; five is to train local human resources, especially tour guides, tour operators and crew.

From a research perspective, the Institute for Social Tourism Research also emphasized the coordinating role of Ho Chi Minh City as a transit hub. The Institute proposed the formation of an “Inter-regional Council for River Tourism Development” to reach consensus on planning, share data and coordinate investment. At the same time, it is necessary to encourage the formation of riverside tourism clusters that can be connected by canoe or cruise ship such as: My Tho - Cai Be - Vinh Long - Sa Dec - Chau Doc route or Can Tho - Nga Bay - Soc Trang - Con Dao route.

Reality has proven that when localities and businesses join hands, river tourism can create a breakthrough. To effectively exploit “flow resources”, river tourism needs to be seen as a strategic pillar in regional tourism development planning. Moreover, this is also an opportunity to create livelihoods for residents on both banks, preserve the river ecosystem and promote the culture of the West to the world. It is not only a tourism product, but also a journey to preserve identity, nurture development, and connect regions through the homeland river.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/danh-thuc-du-lich-duong-song-nam-bo-20250807142946543.htm