Mekong Delta provinces to join hands in developing tourism

      Mekong Delta provinces would focus on developing a sustainable tourism industry by offering diverse and quality products, the Mekong Tourism Association said.
It encouraged travel companies to set up tours that involve the community, especially local residents, in tourism activities, generating incomes for them, and avoid overlapping products or unhealthy competition with one another, it said.
Kien Giang and An Giang provinces and Can Tho City have set up a "Co-operation programme to develop the tourism industry through 2010" to exploit the region’s key travel triangle.
Vinh Long Province is working with Can Tho to promote ecotourism, cultural and historical tourism, and home stay tours.
The travel sector in the region has also established ties with HCM City-based tourism companies to organise waterway tours and other products pertaining to summer, weekend, discovery, business, and recreational tours.
Authorities have spent around VND98 billion (US$5.3 million) to upgrade some 50 tourism sites in the region to attract more tourists.
Can Tho, for instance, has invested VND16.6 billion in its transport infrastructure and restore the century-old Binh Thuy house, a major attraction and recently declared a national relic, at Binh Thuy tourism village.
It has also upgraded national tourist attractions along the Hau River.
Improving the skills of people working in the tourism industry is also a factor authorities are focusing on.
The delta has huge potential for tourism development with its myriad attractive destinations like Tram Chim National Park I in Dong Thap Province, U Minh Forest in Ca Mau Province, and floating market and fruit orchards in Can Tho.
Phu Quoc Island and An Giang Province’s That Son and Sap mountains also attracted many visitors.