Positioning green tourism in the Mekong Delta

Green tourism is currently an important orientation in the sustainable tourism development of Vietnam in general and the Mekong Delta in particular. Tourism activities of localities and businesses in the West are aiming at a common goal: both conserving resources and improving the quality of tourism experiences in a modern and sustainable way.

Current status of green tourism in the Mekong Delta

Mr. Lam Huu Phuc, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long province, shared that after the merger (of 3 provinces of Vinh Long, Tra Vinh and Ben Tre), the locality quickly built a set of green tourism criteria for the province, both promoting indigenous cultural resources and meeting standards of protection and responsibility to the environment.

In Vinh Long, there are currently many models and products of green tourism, green agriculture, and environmentally friendly homestays. Specifically, regarding local green agriculture, there is currently a model of visiting organic coconut gardens with no plastic waste at Sokfarm, featuring the experience of harvesting coconut nectar; or a model of applying solar energy at Con Ho Ecotourism Site with the experience of oil lamp tours; the program "Net Zero tours Ben Tre "...

Cycling is a common activity in experiences when coming to Con Chim (Vinh Long).

Vinh Long also has environmentally friendly tourism activities in An Binh Islet, Chim Islet, and Tan Quy Islet. In particular, Chim Islet stands out with its natural tourism model, which won the ASEAN Community Tourism Award 2025. All of these models and products contribute to effectively promoting the local green destination.

In Can Tho, Mr. Vo Nguyen Minh Thai, Director of Business Communications at Cantho Eco Resort, shared: “Cantho Eco Resort preserves the available resources with about 80% of the green space of gardens, rivers and canals. In addition, we use recycled, environmentally friendly products and classify waste. Every month, we have days to collect trash in rivers and canals, cleaning the surrounding environment.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Vo Xuan Thu, Director of Victoria Can Tho Resort, said that the unit has implemented green tourism criteria for many years. Victoria hotel system has achieved Gold certification for sustainable tourism from Travelife (an international sustainability certification program in the tourism sector managed by ABTA - Association of British Travel Agents and ANVR - Association of Dutch Travel Agents). To be recognized for sustainable tourism certification, the unit must strictly implement the criteria, which require products and services to be closely linked to preserving indigenous culture and protecting the environment; while also having the ability to connect and raise customer awareness, impact and spread the spirit of environmental protection to partners.

From a travel perspective, Ms. Le Dinh Minh Thy, Director of Vietravel Can Tho, said: “Vietravel has three pillars of development: green business, digital business and circular business, aiming to create a friendly, smart and sustainable tourism ecosystem. Since 2015, Vietravel has launched the Go Green movement. Specifically, in our tours, there will be activities to raise tourists' awareness of environmental protection, such as combining experiences with afforestation, picking up trash to protect the marine environment, or the 2025 campaign "Keep the cranes - Keep millions of green" with a tour itinerary that contributes to protecting red-crowned cranes in Dong Thap... Or more practically, giving environmentally friendly gifts. We are determined to accompany localities and communities to create value chain links with green and sustainable experiences."

Positioning green tourism based on common criteria, aiming at international competition

In fact, green tourism in the Mekong Delta has had many activities with many forms and models; but there has not been a common brand positioning to create recognition and competitiveness for regional tourism. Ms. Le Dinh Minh Thy, Director of Vietravel Can Tho, said: "The Mekong Delta has many advantages in developing eco-tourism, community tourism associated with the goal of Net Zero, sustainability. However, we propose that there should be separate criteria for green tourism for the Mekong Delta. In fact, there are many green tourism activities that have been implemented but we still do not know to what extent they have been achieved. When there are green labels, businesses will be ready to participate."

Sharing the same view, Ms. Vo Xuan Thu, Director of Victoria Can Tho Resort, said: “Travelife certification is international, but if we have green certification, businesses will always be ready to participate for the goal of sustainable tourism development”. According to Ms. Vo Xuan Thu, having green certifications in tourism activities will help units improve their responsibility and help better brand recognition, especially in the international market.

Mr. Phung Quang Thang, Chairman of the Vietnam Green Tourism Association, said that it is necessary to standardize green criteria in the Vietnamese tourism system because this not only contributes to improving service quality, increasing commercial value but also affirms the prestige and position of Vietnamese tourism in the international market. Therefore, the Vietnam Tourism Association's introduction of the VITA GREEN label - a set of criteria to guarantee the quality of Vietnamese tourism products and destinations is appropriate in the current context of integration.

Regarding the Mekong Delta, Mr. Phung Quang Thang acknowledged: “The Mekong Delta has the potential to develop ecotourism, agriculture, and cultural tourism. The natural environment here itself exudes the necessary elements of green tourism, but we need green services along with resources. Services are created by humans, so we need green human resources to build and deploy product systems. To do this, there needs to be coordination between many parties: local authorities, businesses, local communities, and tourists. I think that the Mekong Delta, with its advantages of rivers, culture, agricultural cultivation, and canal systems, can make a difference. Therefore, standardizing green tourism in the Mekong Delta contributes to positioning regional tourism as well as the picture of Vietnamese tourism in the ASEAN region.”

Mr. Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that tourism trends have clearly changed, tourists are willing to pay more for safe, convenient and environmentally friendly experiences. Therefore, green transformation in tourism development is necessary and in line with international trends. Vietnam has enough conditions to develop green tourism and the Vietnam Tourism Association has proactively transformed green in its activities over the past years, most drastically in 2024 and 2025, forming a set of green assessment criteria VITA GREEN. The VITA GREEN label will contribute to improving competitiveness and creating a sustainable brand for Vietnamese tourism when integrating internationally.

Regarding the Mekong Delta, Mr. Vu The Binh acknowledged: “The Mekong Delta has great potential for green transformation because the resources here are very diverse. In fact, businesses in the Mekong Delta in particular and Vietnam in general are proactive in green tourism. The destinations we surveyed have almost 70-80% green transformation and we must do everything to help them achieve it completely. With the VITA GREEN green label, we set clear criteria for businesses to invest in effective transformation, build their own brands, contribute to the formation of a chain of green labels for Vietnam tourism, and increase the competitiveness of national tourism in the international market.”

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/dinh-vi-du-lich-xanh-tai-vung-dong-bang-song-cuu-long-20250926141426559.htm