Vinh Long: Community-based tourism is appealing at Con Chim Island.

Located on the river's course leading to the sea, Con Chim islet in Hoa Minh commune, Vinh Long province, boasts natural beauty and a diverse ecosystem, attracting numerous domestic and international tourists. Here, visitors can enjoy a green, clean, and fresh environment and savor rustic, authentic Southern Vietnamese cuisine.

Con Chim Island, Hoa Minh commune, Vinh Long province, is a typical tourist destination in the Mekong Delta region.

Con Chim Island is located in the middle of the Co Chien River, about 10km northeast of Tra Vinh ward along the river route, and 15km along National Highway 53 towards Ba Dong beach. Here, nature is poetic, peaceful, and completely isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The community-based tourism model in Con Chim hamlet offers visitors new experiences of nature, culture, and the life of the local people, with the slogan "Come to Con Chim, the locals only have their hearts to offer."

As the ferries docked, many residents of Con Chim hamlet waved their conical hats, their faces beaming with friendly smiles, giving visitors a sense of simplicity, closeness, and sincerity, making them feel like they were returning home. After taking a few souvenir photos at the entrance to Con Chim hamlet, many tourists enjoyed cycling along the small roads adorned with vibrant flowers.

Interspersed with rice paddies and lush green orchards, along both sides of the road are simple thatched houses, rows of earthenware jars, and racks of dishes by the pond... This is the rustic charm and surprisingly peaceful atmosphere of a Southern Vietnamese countryside that seems to have faded into the past.

Stopping at Bé Thảo's coconut garden, owner Trần Thị Thu Hạnh personally chopped fresh coconuts picked directly from the trees, happily inviting everyone to enjoy the refreshing, sweet coconut water. Beneath the green coconut trees of Ms. Hạnh's family is an organic rice and shrimp farming model, where visitors can enjoy watching freshwater prawns basking in the warm sun along the pond's edge, or clinging to the rice plants in their heading stage.

Next door, Ms. Pham Thi Sua's house has a space showcasing the process of making and preparing traditional folk cakes. If they wish, visitors can participate in grinding flour with a stone mortar, shaping the dough to make cakes wrapped in banana leaves, steaming them, and then peeling the cakes to enjoy the delicious, rustic taste, dipped in coconut milk.

Ms. Sữa shared, "We do tourism with all our hearts, welcoming guests like family. Thanks to community tourism, the people of Con Chim have jobs, increased income, and contribute to preserving and promoting local cultural values."

During their visit to Con Chim Island, tourists can also participate in folk games such as playing "u," jump rope, and can-throwing, evoking childhood memories, including exciting "crab races" with prizes.

Tourists participate in the exciting crab racing game with prizes at Con Chim islet, Hoa Minh commune.

Visitors were amazed and delighted to enjoy a hearty Southern Vietnamese family meal at the home of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen. The meal, made with ingredients from the family's own garden, ensured freshness and cleanliness. It included boiled vegetables, braised pork with fish sauce, sour fish soup with snakehead fish, and, most uniquely, the banyan flower salad. The banyan tree is a characteristic plant of the Southern Vietnamese delta region, growing naturally along riverbanks, bearing flowers and fruit year-round with a refreshing, tangy, and slightly astringent flavor that leaves a lasting impression.

In the context of building new rural areas, the Party Committee and government of Hoa Minh island commune have focused on maintaining, preserving, and improving the quality of criteria for advanced new rural communes. Over the past period, recognizing its strengths in natural and cultural conditions, the commune has concentrated on building and developing a community tourism model in Con Chim hamlet.

According to Mr. Le Van Tri, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Minh commune, previously, the income of people in Con Chim hamlet depended on rice cultivation, shrimp farming, and fishing. The commune has coordinated with the provincial tourism industry to guide the community, businesses, and tourism service establishments to practice clean, environmentally friendly production, marking Con Chim as a pristine and unique destination for tourists from near and far.

Con Chim Island has made an international mark, ranking among the top 12 sustainable development initiatives organized by Japan and is also one of the five Vietnamese representatives to receive the ASEAN Community Tourism Award in 2025. Over the past five years, Con Chim Island's community tourism destination has attracted 99,000 domestic and international visitors, generating revenue of approximately 24 billion VND and a profit of 5 billion VND.

Taking a commemorative photo next to a small, simple house in Con Chim hamlet, Hoa Minh commune.

To date, the average per capita income of people in Con Chim hamlet has reached 89 million VND/year, double that of 2019. Thanks to the effective role of the local community in developing tourism , Hoa Minh commune has completed the procedures and documents to submit to the province for appraisal and recognition as a model new rural commune in tourism.

MINH KHOI

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vinh-long-hap-dan-du-lich-cong-dong-o-con-chim-post919596.html