Thanh Phu beach tourism associated with agriculture and rural areas

Du khách trải nghiệm cào nghêu tại bờ biển xã Thạnh Hải, khu vực Hợp tác xã Thủy sản Bình Minh.

Tourists experience clam raking at the coast of Thanh Hai commune, Binh Minh Seafood Cooperative area.

Promoting the value of local resources

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Van Tan - Director of the Department of Science and Technology said that the department always cares about and accompanies the district in inviting scientists and research experts to carry out scientific and technological research topics and projects so that the tourism industry of Thanh Phu district can create unique and specialized tourism models, imbued with cultural identity, maximizing the value of the local tourism resources. Connecting these models is compatible with existing tourism spots, suitable for the needs and tastes of tourists, aiming at sustainable development of the tourism industry and balanced development of the economy of Thanh Phu district in the future.

In addition, the construction of farmer tourism models has guided people to develop tourism in a professional direction and change their mindset from "providing what they have" to "providing services and products that customers need" ... and helped the district's tourism destinations build tours and tourism routes linked with tourism companies and businesses outside the province. In addition, the department has also gradually supported the tourism industry of Thanh Phu district to apply information technology to encode information, VRG 360 virtual reality of cultural and historical relics, entertainment destinations ... to introduce and promote the district's tourism image. The application of smart tourism aims to bring information and communication technology into the district's tourism products, contributing to improving the quality of tourist services, contributing to sustainable socio-economic development, creating mutual benefits between 3 subjects: tourists, government and businesses.

Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung said that about 90% of tourism businesses in the province apply 4.0 technology to their strategies for promoting and communicating the image of their services, products and services and those of the locality; actively investing in building, designing and perfecting Facebook, Zalo, Instagram, Tiktok pages... to introduce and promote. This has gradually attracted all audiences, transforming the desire to travel into the act of deciding to travel to explore, experience and "touch" the reality of tourism products.

At the same time, smart tourism application services are also given special attention, meeting the indispensable needs of tourists in the new period. Most hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues have free wifi. Cultural and historical relics in the province have initially implemented information encryption, VRG 360 virtual reality to convey information to tourists in the most basic, convenient and fastest way possible.

Agricultural model combined with experiential tourism

Director of the Tourism Promotion Information Center under the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vo Thanh Son said that the agricultural model combined with tourism is a common trend that helps sustainable development, increasing the value chain of marine tourism and marine agricultural products. Therefore, at the Thanh Phu Sea Culture - Sports - Tourism Week 2023, the center introduced many travel agencies to come here to connect. Thereby, attracting more than 20 businesses inside and outside the province to sign cooperation agreements with units providing marine tourism products and services. In particular, there are researches and contributions to propose tourism development solutions from experts from many institutes and schools in the country.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Viet Hong - Saigon University shared: The trend of tourism development is increasing and becoming more popular. Therefore, rural tourism is not exhausted because it is very diverse and eternal. For tourists, the need to travel now does not stop at just listening and seeing, but needs to participate, do, and experience. In terms of these aspects, observations in Ben Tre have the advantage of being close to the sea and having great potential for developing rural tourism. Ben Tre has a long coastline, many beautiful landscapes, mangrove ecosystems, and very large clam beds. Recently, there have been wind power projects, high-tech shrimp farming, and some civil works... which are very convenient for tourists to visit and experience.

“Ben Tre does not have many famous beautiful landscapes like many other places, but in return, there are many other products serving tourism. Most importantly, Ben Tre has many historical heritage values, indigenous cultural heritage. Regarding products, Ben Tre has many types of specialty fruit trees such as green coconut, green-skinned grapefruit, green-legged shrimp, durian, crab, four-season mango..., which have great potential to serve domestic and foreign tourists. At the same time, it is possible to create a space for tourists to participate in experiences and exploration", Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Viet Hong emphasized.

On the other hand, localities need to build and form a "network of points" - a space serving tourism with many points and products located close to each other in a tourism program, possibly by many different means such as motorbike, boat, walking... but how to make it convenient for visitors to travel, visit and participate in those activities in a diverse and rich way.

In fact, tourists were very excited when participating in the clam raking experience trip on the coast of Thanh Hai commune, Thanh Phu district, in the area of Binh Minh Aquatic Products Cooperative. Therefore, in the immediate future, it is necessary to plan clam beaches for tourism and have activities to nurture, plant and protect them to serve tourism. Thanh Hai commune has 2 clam cooperatives: Thanh Loi Aquatic Products Cooperative and Binh Minh Aquatic Products Cooperative. According to Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Binh Minh Aquatic Products Cooperative Nguyen Van Chinh, the cooperative has an area of about 100 hectares, operating since 2005, creating jobs for many people, a working day (3-4 hours) can be paid 200-300 thousand VND, even from 700 thousand VND to 1 million VND/day. With the advantage of having a long coastline, clam beaches, wind power space... to improve operational efficiency, the cooperative is oriented to serve tourists to visit and experience.

“At the oyster farm, the landscape is wild and beautiful, but it is also necessary to create conditions for tourists to catch oysters by themselves to process and enjoy on the spot, and to catch and bring them home as gifts for family and relatives. There is nothing more wonderful than this. This not only helps the farming households increase their revenue, but also helps increase their stay time to use more products. Or when visiting mango or coconut gardens, tourists can participate in harvesting mangoes and enjoy local specialties made from mangoes,” Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Viet Hong added.

Miss World Environment 2023 Nguyen Thanh Ha was honored to become the Ambassador of Thanh Phu Sea Culture - Sports - Tourism Week 2023. Attending the week, Thanh Ha said: “When mentioning Ben Tre, most tourists from inside and outside the province know the green natural beauty, the very rich gardens, the people here are very friendly and hospitable. Those are the things that make Thanh Ha love her homeland more. Ben Tre is also a land rich in traditional, cultural and historical values that is very proud”. Thanh Ha sent an environmental message: We hope that we will join hands to protect the environment, limit the problem of waste to keep the sea blue, clean, and fresh, in order to create a lasting beautiful impression on domestic and foreign tourists with Thanh Phu sea. Thanh Ha also hopes to contribute to bringing the image of Thanh Phu sea to friends around the world”.

As one of the three coastal districts and located at the end of Minh Islet, Thanh Phu has 26km of coastline bordering the East Sea, with many historical and cultural relics and great potential for developing ecological tourism, community tourism associated with agricultural and rural tourism; cultural - historical - spiritual tourism; and coastal folk beliefs. Therefore, the goal by 2030 is for tourism to become the district's spearhead economy and create jobs for 2,500 workers.

Article and photos: Cam Truc

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