Open space creates advantages for tourism development
The trend of tourism is shifting from sightseeing to experiential, as tourists want to immerse themselves in local life and explore cultural stories. This is also the direction Vinh Long tourism chooses to create its own mark.
Informing Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Duong Hoang Sum - Provincial Party Committee Member, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VHTT&DL) of Vinh Long province, after expanding the development space, the locality owns a rare tourism ecosystem of the Mekong Delta region.
Vinh Long fully converges the characteristics of the Mekong Delta with the Tien and Hau river systems, coastal areas, estuary, mangrove forests, orchards, traditional craft villages and many unique cultural values.
The locality currently has a development space of more than 6,296km2 with over 4.25 million people, along with 1 UNESCO-recognized heritage, 214 ranked relics, 18 national intangible cultural heritages and more than 70 traditional craft villages.
The Director of Vinh Long Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the advantages of natural and cultural resources help the locality to be qualified to form inter-regional products, instead of exploiting each destination individually as before.
According to Mr. Sum, the locality positions the "Mekong Heart" brand with the philosophy "Living like Mekong people", aiming for tourists not only to visit but also to experience local life, taking culture as the foundation, nature as the core value and community as the center of tourism development.
Mr. Sum believes that if many localities compete by the number of attractions, Vinh Long can make a difference by telling a complete story about the Mekong region, people and culture.
Taking the community as the center of tourism development
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Be Muoi - Vice Chairwoman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee said that the locality has many advantages in developing diverse types of tourism from river and sea ecology, culture, history, spirituality to agriculture and cuisine.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Be Muoi, tourism development must adapt to the new needs of tourists. Not only coming to admire the scenery, tourists are increasingly wanting to directly experience the life and culture of local people.
With that orientation, tourists coming to Vinh Long can not only visit orchards but also join people in taking care of fruit trees, learning about experience in responding to saltwater intrusion, flood season and daily life.
In addition to ecological products, the locality also exploits the values of Don ca tai tu, Khmer culture, traditional craft villages, folk cuisine and unique festivals to create a rich and unique experience chain.
Ms. Muoi said that people are not outside tourism activities but are the creators of products. Artisans, farmers and households will directly introduce traditional crafts, culture and lifestyle to tourists.
The province has many advantages to develop tourism, with a more open space, rich resources and diverse ecosystems. This is an important foundation for building unique products, improving competitiveness and gradually affirming the Vinh Long brand as a land of convergence.
The locality will continue to improve service quality, build more products associated with cultural identity and take tourist satisfaction as a measure to develop sustainable tourism," Muoi emphasized.
