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 tourism activities here are quite monotonous, repetitive, and lack special activities to retain them.

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 features of the Mekong Delta, 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 all similar, just familiar entertainment services, then going to fruit gardens or rowing boats, canoes… so just experiencing it for 1 day is enough,” said Ms. Huong.

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 is quite regrettable 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, quality improvement but not really attractive

Nowadays, garden and river ecotourism are the main types of tourism that make Can Tho in particular and the Mekong Delta in general attractive. 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 in tourism products, unintentionally reducing the attraction for visitors.

On the other hand, ecotourism is also affected by climate change and seasonal changes. Many tourists have to spend money to visit gardens with only leaves and branches because they accidentally 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, losing money and getting 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.