In Tien Giang province, tourism products such as river tours, orchards, traditional confectionery villages, and boat trips on the river are popular choices for many tourists.
An eco-tourism tour of the Mekong Delta, featuring river landscapes and stopping points at Thoi Son islet (Tien Giang) and Con Phung islet ( Ben Tre ), offers a variety of activities: admiring the Tien River, learning about the lives of people connected to the waterways, enjoying the cool, peaceful green space; learning about and enjoying coconut candy; taking photos with pythons; riding a horse-drawn carriage; listening to traditional folk music; enjoying seasonal fruits; and rowing a traditional sampan boat... is a prime example.
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| Tourists enjoy the experience of paddling a traditional three-leaf boat when visiting the riverine region. Photo: Thuy Nguyen |
For frequent travelers, this product isn't particularly new, and is even somewhat similar across the Mekong Delta provinces, yet when they have the opportunity to return to the riverine region, they still choose this tourism product again (!).
This demonstrates that tourism businesses in Tien Giang have effectively utilized available natural resources, exploiting the strengths of the riverine landscape, orchards, culture, and Southern Vietnamese cuisine to serve tourists. In particular, they have developed and operated well-structured tours with extensive and continuous cooperation between many localities. Importantly, they have leveraged the strengths of local tour guides to "conquer" and, further, "retain" tourists for future visits.
I was impressed by the female tour guide, partly because she was also from the Mekong Delta, but even more so because of her love for her land and people. Only with such love could she so generously introduce her region to tourists with such joy, even though the weather in Southern Vietnam in March is not at all pleasant.
While guiding the group, she skillfully posed fun riddles related to landmarks, daily life, and activities of people in the Mekong Delta. She explained the difference between streams and canals, and why some are called islets. The group also received information about famous products from Tien Giang province and, without hesitation, asked the boat driver to take them to the most "prime" spot for photos, with the Rach Mieu Bridge visible from the boat's bow. She enthusiastically helped capture unique photos for the entire group with the bridge connecting Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces in the background.
She also answered many "challenging" and "joking" questions from tourists without ever trying to corner or stump them. In this way, tourists were drawn into the story about the destination they were about to visit, and no one felt the nausea they had felt when they first boarded the boat. They forgot the fatigue from traveling by various means of transportation such as: boat trips, walking in the garden, riding in horse-drawn carriages, and rowing in traditional sampans...
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| After sightseeing and experiencing the local culture, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy delicious, crispy Vietnamese savory pancakes (banh xeo) from the Mekong Delta. |
Another plus point for the female tour guide was that when the group returned to the other side of the Tien River by boat to end the tour, each tourist was "rewarded" with a fresh coconut that she skillfully cut open herself, and she didn't forget to remind the tourists: "After drinking, please don't throw the shells into the river, but collect them so that the people of Con Phung island can process them into environmentally friendly items."
Many factors contribute to tourists returning to a previously visited destination, including unique and innovative tourism products, professionalism, and the cultural conduct of those involved in tourism activities. Not only in Tien Giang, but also in Dak Lak, several tourist destinations have "scored points" with domestic and international tourists for preserving the pristine beauty and originality of many traditional values. This is further enhanced by the role of friendly and open local tour guides with their rich and in-depth knowledge of the land, people, and especially traditional culture, customs, festivals, and the lives of the indigenous people.
Instead of rote memorization, they rely on their life experiences and knowledge, conveying information in the simplest and most understandable way. Their work and daily lives themselves serve as a compelling guide, touching the hearts of tourists. Notable examples include the owner of Arul coffee shop (in Akô Dhông community tourism village, Tân Lợi ward, Buôn Ma Thuột city), H'Len Niê, and Y Xim Ndu, a M'nông ethnic minority member from Yuk La 1 village (Đắk Liêng commune, Lắk district)...
The Southwestern and Central Highlands regions of Vietnam are two areas rich in cultural identity, beautiful natural landscapes, and always promise exciting tourism experiences. These are valuable assets for promoting tourism development, contributing to the preservation of traditional culture while providing economic benefits to the localities and stable income for the people.
However, to maintain this advantage, many "gaps" need to be filled, including the training and development of human resources in tourism. This is a crucial solution to enhance the capacity of the community through training courses on tourism, service management, communication skills, customer service, environmental protection, etc.
The active participation of local people in tourism will help protect cultural values and prevent their erosion or distortion, thus contributing to sustainable tourism development.
Source: https://baodaklak.vn/du-lich/202504/du-lich-cong-dong-them-mot-goc-nhin-862199c/
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