Elevating the tourism brand of Ca Mau

The Hanoi flagpole at Ca Mau Cape is an important destination in Ca Mau Cape tourism (Hoang Nam).

Ca Mau is not far away anymore.

Despite facing numerous challenges, Ca Mau's tourism sector is poised to become a leading economic hub. Years ago, Ca Mau, with its extensive network of rivers and canals—one of the most complex in the country—faced significant difficulties in developing its transportation infrastructure.

Traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Ca Mau used to take a whole day and night. However, it now only takes 5-6 hours by car. In the near future, this distance will be shortened even further when the expressway connecting to Ca Mau is completed, creating a significant boost for tourism in the province.

Ca Mau Airport has been approved for an upgrade to 4C standards to accommodate large jet aircraft (Hoang Nam).

In late 2023, during a working visit to Ca Mau, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: “During this term, we must complete the expressway from North to South, extending to Ca Mau, and continue to build the expressway all the way to Ca Mau Cape, instead of just to Ca Mau City as currently planned. We must ensure the runway can be built so that large aircraft can land at Ca Mau Airport as soon as possible, and when passenger traffic increases, we will expand the terminal.”

Accordingly, the Prime Minister approved proposals to support Ca Mau in narrowing the gap with major centers of the country, creating conditions to overcome difficulties for the province: Extending the North-South expressway to the Ca Mau Cape; considering and implementing investment in the construction of Ca Mau Airport to meet the 4C standard according to the plan. Thus, the extension of Ca Mau Airport by an additional 2.5 km towards Tan Thanh will be a major boost for the urban and tourism development of Ca Mau.

In addition, the province has identified key tasks as the sustainable development of the marine economy associated with the efficient exploitation of Hon Khoai General Port and Nam Can Economic Zone; investing in the completion of a synchronous and modern infrastructure system, focusing on transportation infrastructure (expressways, coastal roads, seaports, airports), urban infrastructure, economic zone infrastructure, industrial park infrastructure, and tourism infrastructure. It aims to form and develop two economic corridors in the North-South direction (Ca Mau City - Cai Nuoc - Nam Can - Dat Mui) and the East-West direction (Tan Thuan - Song Doc) based on connecting expressways, coastal roads, airports, seaports, and five growth poles (Ca Mau City, Nam Can, Song Doc, Tan Thuan, Dat Mui).

Based on the above, it can be seen that Ca Mau has been developing its transportation infrastructure, and its geographical location has been shortened, creating favorable conditions for connecting tourism between Vietnam and the world.

A boost in policy

In 2023, the Provincial People's Council approved a resolution outlining the general planning task for the construction of the Ca Mau Cape National Tourist Area until 2030, with a vision to 2050. Prior to this, the Prime Minister had approved the overall development plan for the Ca Mau Cape National Tourist Area in Ca Mau province until 2030. In this long-term strategic plan, Ca Mau aims to leverage its unique advantages and characteristics, paying particular attention to connecting Ca Mau Cape with the Hon Khoai area, Phu Quoc, Con Dao, etc., in order to promote the marine economy and marine tourism.

Hoan Khoai, a strategically important location for tourism, economy, and national defense in Ca Mau (Hoang Nam)

Mr. Huynh Quoc Viet, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau province, affirmed: "The province is committed to always opening its doors to welcome domestic and foreign investors and will always accompany the development of investors and businesses. Investors and businesses will be given the most favorable conditions to successfully implement their projects and achieve sustainable development in the future in accordance with regulations."

In line with these policies, key tourism projects in Ca Mau are currently in the strategic investor attraction phase. Many large-scale projects hold high expectations, such as: the Thi Tuong Lagoon Tourist Area; U Minh Ha National Park tourism; Hon Khoai and Hon Da Bac tourism... These are all prime tourism resources of Ca Mau, and if properly invested in and exploited, they will bring about significant tourism growth.

Shaping your own path

According to experts, Ca Mau's tourism sector is currently undervalued and not yet properly exploited or developed to promote growth. From the perspective of a tourism organizer, Mr. Tran Van Thao, Director of Vietravel Ca Mau, stated: “With the planning and strategic orientation of socio-economic development, including tourism, based on regional and sub-regional areas, linked to outstanding and unique strengths, Ca Mau's tourism will make significant progress with continuous growth in the number of tourists and tourism revenue. At that time, the attention and social resources dedicated to tourism will increase exponentially, a completely predictable effect.” Meanwhile, according to Master Phan Dinh Hue, a tourism expert in the Mekong Delta, Ca Mau's tourism should focus on agricultural and ecological tourism, but at a higher level, meeting the more diverse needs of tourists.

Ca Mau always maintains festival activities to preserve culture, but also as a highlight to stimulate tourism (Hoang Nam).

Mr. Tran Hieu Hung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated: “Ca Mau has been proactively responding to and developing tourism products adapted to climate change to promote tourism, especially ecotourism, community tourism, and agricultural tourism associated with the New Rural Development Program and the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, focusing on green tourism development based on clean agricultural products and developing clean agriculture to serve and promote green tourism. In addition, Ca Mau's cuisine is being developed as a unique and distinctive tourism product, attracting more tourists to the locality.”

The potential for sustainable green tourism remains enormous (Hoang Nam)

Speaking to the Economic and Urban Newspaper, Mr. Tran Hieu Hung stated: “Towards the goal of developing green and sustainable tourism, while maximizing the potential and advantages of a province located at the southernmost tip of the country, the province prioritizes the development of ecotourism based on building tourism products from agriculture, linking the exploitation, protection, and development of resources with tourism activities such as: the Ca Mau Cape forest trekking route, the Dat Mui Cultural and Tourism Village, exploiting experiential products of the freshwater mangrove ecosystem within the U Minh Ha National Park system, and experiencing the Thi Tuong lagoon...”

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/nang-tam-thuong-hieu-du-lich-ca-mau.html