'Duck massage' in Con Son

In Can Tho, this Tet holiday, tourists can enjoy an exciting new experience at Con Son Island with the "duck massage" service – an innovative service based on the model of raising grass-fed ducks in conjunction with community tourism.

During their ecotourism experience at Con Son Island in Binh Thuy Ward (Can Tho City), tourists are quite delighted with the "duck massage" service. This is a new service offered by Phuong My Garden - a member of the Con Son Agricultural Tourism Cooperative, owned by Ms. Bui Thuy Lieu.

Tourists enjoy experiencing the "duck massage" service at Con Son Island. Photo: Kim Anh.

Amidst the durian and pomelo orchards, Mrs. Lieu built a wooden hut, with a duck pond below, complete with a ladder for the ducks to climb up to the bank. Visitors are guided to sit on low wooden chairs, dangling their feet in the water to experience a "duck massage" service.

Well-trained, all it takes is a call from the garden owner, and the flock of ducks quickly swims from the pond closer, climbing the steps one by one towards the visitors. Their beaks gently touch the feet as if searching for food, creating a tickling, fun, and quite relaxing sensation.

Mr. Nguyen Gia Vu, a tourist from Vi Thanh 1 commune ( Can Tho City), experienced the "duck massage" service for the first time and happily shared that it felt very strange and interesting.

Over the past year or so, agricultural tourism linked to the riverine lifestyle on Con Son Island has seen significant innovation with creative experiential products that are close to nature.

The "duck massage" service adds a unique touch to community-based ecotourism in Can Tho City. Photo: Kim Anh.

Having visited Con Son Island many times, Ms. Nguyen Phuong Anh, a tourist from Ca Mau province, has clearly noticed the recent improvements in community-based tourism services there. According to her, the "duck massage" experience is quite novel, inexpensive, but provides tourists with an indescribable feeling of joy.

According to Ms. Bui Thuy Lieu, her family previously only raised ducks for eggs, which were used to prepare dishes for tourists. Noticing that many people enjoyed taking photos and interacting with the ducks, she came up with the idea of ​​developing it into an experiential tourism product: "duck massage."

To make the ducks friendly to tourists, Ms. Lieu spends a lot of time training them. From when the ducks are young, she patiently gets them used to eating on people's feet. This process requires gentleness and patience over a long period of time so that the ducks are not afraid and know how to interact with tourists.

The ducks have been trained from a young age, so they are quite friendly with tourists. Photo: Kim Anh.

Once the ducks were over two months old, healthy, and accustomed to their environment, Ms. Lieu officially launched her "duck massage" service for tourists and achieved unexpected success, quickly attracting many people, especially children and foreign visitors. "This flock of ducks serves both tourism and provides eggs every day. I will raise them until they are old, not for meat," Ms. Lieu shared.

Integrating familiar livestock used in agricultural production into experiential tourism activities not only contributes to creating livelihoods for the local people but also helps to make tourism on Con Son Island more diverse, sustainable, and closely linked to the unique ecological agricultural identity of the Can Tho river region.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City, in 2025, the city conducted surveys and developed eco-tourism and community-based tourism programs, contributing to enriching services for tourists. The total number of visitors to Can Tho City in 2025 is expected to reach over 11.18 million, an 18% increase compared to the previous year. Tourism revenue is projected to reach nearly 10,000 billion VND, a 20% increase compared to 2024.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/massage-vit-o-con-son-d794420.html