Long An creates highlights with industrial tourism

Long An is a locality that is assessed to have potential for diverse types of tourism. However, tourism activities in the area are still independent, quite fragmented and lacking in connectivity... To bring visitors interesting experiences when coming to Long An, the tourism industry has a lot of work to do to promote the typical tourism products of the locality.

Special river tourism faces difficulties Long An province's tourism potential is very rich and diverse. In addition to the ecology of Dong Thap Muoi region, Long An also has Floating Pagoda (Vinh Hung district), Ton Thanh Pagoda, Hundred Pillar House, Rach Cat Fort (Can Duoc district), Vam Nhut Tao relic site (Tan Tru district), Nguyen Huynh Duc tomb (Tan An city)... In recent times, some destinations have continued to receive investment attention such as: Tan Lap floating village; Medicinal herb area - Endless fields; Happyland complex... However, up to now, it is only a stopover and not a tourist attraction. For example, Tan Lap Floating Village eco-tourism area, in addition to sightseeing and picnic tours associated with culinary experiences, this destination has recently opened additional camping and fishing services, many new check-in points, a program to sell combo tickets for sightseeing and a lunch buffet with specialties of the river region... But in reality, the peak of welcoming visitors on the occasion of the recent September 2nd holiday was only 1,500, an insignificant increase compared to the same period. Other tourist destinations in Long An are in a similar situation.

Young tourists in Ho Chi Minh City experience fishing at Chavi Garden Long An Tourist Area.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Tri, Director of Thap Muoi Tourism Company, Long An, the management unit of Tan Lap Floating Village Eco-tourism Area, said: "There are still many difficulties, so there are not many visitors. The company also strengthens image promotion, making the most of the natural landscapes on the spot. It is necessary to repair National Highway 62 here so that visitors can conveniently come here, and easily connect with other tours. The road is too bad, tourists and locals are also reluctant to go, because the trip back here takes up the whole day." Many opinions say that, currently, Long An has many tourism products but there are no highlights, so in the near future, the locality will select typical tourist destinations to invest in a more systematic and complete manner. In particular, the province is determined to do professional tourism, not half-heartedly, the province is gradually building more high-class and professional tourism products. Because of its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City, Long An has favorable conditions to become a satellite tourist destination of the country's largest tourist hub, with various types of eco-tourism, entertainment tourism, weekend resort tourism and rural tourism... According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hien, Director of Chavi Eco-tourism Area - Chairman of Long An Province Tourism Association, one of the biggest difficulties in developing tourism today is still transportation. Many tourist routes are highly appreciated but not yet connected to each other. Many roads have not been invested in commensurately, are still small, narrow and not connected to facilitate tourists when coming to tourist areas and destinations, especially tourist destinations in the center of Dong Thap Muoi region. Mr. Hien frankly admitted: "Currently, Long An's roads to tourist destinations are still unstable in many places. There are actually destinations that are still stuck with bridges that limit the load, so 45-seat tourist vehicles cannot reach the destination. Therefore, although they have cooperated with many travel agencies, the vehicles cannot reach them, so they do not want to organize group tours." Creating a highlight from industrial tourism In recent times, Long An has always strived to make tourism a key economic sector of the province. However, in reality, Long An's tourism has not yet met the needs of tourists; there are still limitations in tourism promotion and advertising, and there are not many typical tourism products...

Long An is under a lot of pressure to build its own unique tours and routes.

In order for Long An tourism to develop sustainably in the coming time, many experts suggest that Long An needs to invest in building strong tourism products, such as: eco-tourism, resorts; tourism associated with culture, heritage, cuisine; need to invest in exploiting advanced experience activities for tourists; strengthen the training of high-quality human resources in restaurant, hotel and tour guide management to meet the needs of tourists; invest in building a transportation system connecting with tourist destinations and urban centers; increase the opening of survey tours for travel businesses, support travel businesses in the area facing difficulties. According to Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Long An province Nguyen Thanh Thanh, in the immediate future, to temporarily overcome difficulties in connecting routes, in addition to making the most of the ecological potential of Dong Thap Muoi, Long An is reviewing to license a number of inland waterway wharves on Bao Dinh river to exploit tourism in combination with walking streets and night markets in the city. Tan An… Especially with the slow recovery of international tourism, Long An aims to develop industrial tourism, coordinate with industrial parks to launch experiential tourism programs, serving foreign experts and workers and laborers in industrial parks in the North and Southwest of Ho Chi Minh City and Long An province.

Long An reviews and licenses a number of inland waterway ports on Bao Dinh River to exploit tourism combined with walking streets and night markets in Tan An City.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Thanh said: "The biggest difficulty now is that accommodation services and travel agencies have not developed much, we will try to include them in the socio-economic development planning of Long An province. The province has set expectations for tourism development, contributing to promoting the image of Long An tourism to attract investment and develop this service sector." Along with the culture and soil of rivers, Long An is under a lot of pressure when coordinating with localities in the Mekong Delta region to build tours and typical routes, avoiding overlap with other provinces and having its own unique features. At the same time, strengthen links with Ho Chi Minh City tourism to seek opportunities to welcome domestic and international tourists. Creating highlights from internal resources to serve local needs are also effective steps, expected to create a stable foundation for Long An tourism in the coming time.

PV/VOV HCMC

Source: https://truyenhinhvov.vn/long-an-tao-diem-nhan-bang-du-lich-cong-nghiep-16423101015323806.htm