Can Tho tourism has been innovated and improved, but is not really attractive.

Monotonous and repetitive tourism activities

In 2023, Can Tho tourism welcomed nearly 5.99 million visitors, an increase of 17% over the same period in 2022; total tourism revenue reached 5,420 billion VND. These figures show that Can Tho is still an attractive destination for many domestic and foreign tourists.

However, sharing with Lao Dong Newspaper, many tourists expressed regret that their stay in Can Tho was not long, because the tourist activities here are quite monotonous, repetitive, and lack special activities to keep them there.

River tourism in Can Tho has yet to fully exploit its strengths. Photo: Ta Quang

During a year-end trip with her family, Ms. Do Thi Huong (52 years old, a tourist from Hanoi) said that her family planned to stay in Can Tho for 3 days to explore the unique river features of the West, but after only the second day, the family members were no longer as excited as at first.

“We visited Cai Rang floating market and some famous tourist attractions. However, the floating market is not as bustling at this time, and the eco-tourism attractions are almost the same, just familiar entertainment services, then going to the fruit garden or rowing a boat, canoe… so just experiencing it for 1 day is enough,” Ms. Huong said.

Ms. Huong believes that if Can Tho has more outstanding, specialized, and attractive tourism products, her family and many other tourists will extend their stay here.

As for Mr. Le Tuan Anh (33 years old, a tourist from Dong Nai), Can Tho in his eyes is a peaceful land and he especially loves the generosity and hospitality of the people here. However, there are still things that make him regret.

“Every year I spend time in Can Tho a few times to relax and rest. I can say that among the tourist attractions, I was impressed with Con Son tourist area and many times intended to stay longer, but one thing that I regret is that I could not find any accommodation services here, so I could not stay even if I wanted to,” said Mr. Tuan Anh.

Innovation, improvement but not really attractive

Nowadays, garden and river ecotourism are the main types of tourism that create the attraction for Can Tho in particular and the Mekong Delta in general. This is also a unique resource that not every region has.

On the contrary, this is also a limitation when many garden spots exploit the common features of available natural resources such as rivers and gardens, lacking long-term investment, thereby creating duplication of tourism products, unintentionally reducing the attraction for visitors.

Ecotourism in gardens and rivers are the main types of tourism. Photo: Yen Phuong — Ecotourism in gardens and rivers... are the main types of tourism. Photo: Yen Phuong

On the other hand, ecotourism is also affected by climate change and seasonality. Many tourists have to pay to visit gardens that only have leaves and branches because they travel in the off-season.

Mr. Nguyen Nhat Khoa (28 years old, An Giang province) recounted that once when he brought his friends from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho to visit, because he did not understand the characteristics of the fruits, he and his friends chose the wrong time, then had to sadly visit the garden, both sunny, lost money and got nothing.

According to the assessment of the Steering Committee for Tourism Development of Can Tho City, the number of visitors to the city in the past year increased, tourism products have been innovated and improved in quality... but are not really attractive and have not created a difference; competitiveness is not high; strengths have not been exploited and promoted, typically river tourism; and specific and characteristic products of Can Tho City have not been built to promote to tourists.

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