Diversity of National Tourism Year Mekong Delta 2016

With the theme “Discovering the Southern Land”, many localities are making efforts to diversify tourism products to create a boost to attract visitors during the 2016 National Tourism Year Phu Quoc - Mekong Delta.

Developing sea and island tourism

The National Tourism Year 2016 will take place with many rich and unique activities, including 14 events directed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) or organized in coordination with central ministries and branches; 13 events organized by Kien Giang province; 38 activities organized by provinces and cities in the region and affiliated provinces and cities.

The river features of the Mekong Delta attract tourists.

Mr. Tran Chi Dung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Kien Giang, said that with the highlight of Phu Quoc, this tourism event is associated with the protection of marine and island resources, contributing to the development of marine and island tourism to become a typical tourism product of Kien Giang province.

In addition, cultural and tourism activities will contribute to introducing and promoting tangible and intangible cultural values, calling for linkages in tourism development, investment in infrastructure, and improving the quality of human resources, to build the Mekong Delta into a national and international tourism center.

Kien Giang is urgently investing in urban renovation, focusing resources on upgrading key tourist areas, in order to expand the scope of visits.

Currently, the province has 360 tourist accommodation establishments, with more than 8,000 rooms (Phu Quoc alone has over 160 accommodation establishments with nearly 3,300 rooms); ensuring to meet the accommodation needs of tourists, especially during peak seasons or major festivals. Rach Gia and Phu Quoc airports have been invested in upgrading and put into effective operation with flights from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho to Phu Quoc and Rach Gia.

The National Tourism Year 2016 - Phu Quoc - Mekong Delta will officially open in early April 2016. “From the beginning of 2016, cultural and tourism events are being actively implemented by the provinces in the region, especially destination promotion activities. With the organization of the National Tourism Year 2016, the Mekong Delta provinces expect the number of visitors to increase by about 30 - 37%,” said Mr. Tran Chi Dung.

Product Development Link

The Mekong Delta region is characterized by boat tours on the river, exploring year-round fruit gardens, experiencing the life of the river region, listening to traditional music...

This type of tourism is quite attractive to tourists from the North, Central and international. However, due to similarities in culture, lifestyle, and natural landscape, tourism products between localities in the region are similar. Tourists only need to go to one province to experience all the products of the region, which can easily create a feeling of boredom for tourists.

In addition, the whole region has only two international airports, Can Tho and Phu Quoc, but these airports only connect some domestic routes with a frequency of 1-2 flights per day. Currently, only Phu Quoc airport operates some direct international routes from Singapore, South Korea, and Russia. "With the current routes and frequencies, it will greatly affect tourists' decisions. In particular, airfares from Hanoi to Phu Quoc are still very high compared to the general level," said Mr. Le Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of the Market Department (General Department of Tourism).

Travel agencies in the Mekong Delta mainly act as tour operators for travel agencies in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and several other provinces. Up to 95% of visitors to the Mekong Delta are brought by companies outside the region, and the ability of travel agencies in the region to attract and bring visitors directly is quite limited.

Currently, all 13 provinces and cities in the region have only 33 international travel agencies, of which Tien Giang has 14. "With the tourism business force of the Mekong Delta provinces still small and unprofessional, linking with tourism agencies nationwide is important and practical in creating products to attract customers," said Mr. Nguyen Quy Phuong, Director of the Tourism Department.

To attract tourists, it is very important to link localities in the region to create a chain of typical tourism products, associated with resort tourism, eco-tourism and learning about national cultural values. In addition, tourism businesses link up to exploit the strengths of each locality to the fullest, offering specific programs, thereby creating package products with good quality and competitive prices suitable for each target group from key markets.

According to zing.vn