Feelings from tourists
In the scorching heat of the North, Ms. Tran Khanh Huong (Hanoi City) decided to take a long journey to the South with her family. The female tourist recounted that the most anticipated stopover for the whole family is Con Son (Can Tho City), because through images on social networks, all members yearn to sit in the shade of lush, shady fruit trees.
Although I have had the opportunity to travel and explore many scenic spots and different regions along the length of Vietnam, but when I set foot in Con Son, this land still brings me a special, indescribable feeling. The coolness, freshness and absolute peace here are truly a luxury for people who live and work in the city all year round" - Ms. Huong shared.
Not only are there moments of becoming a "genuine countryside" such as picking fruit, rowing boats, making folk cakes... what makes tourists truly admire and appreciate is the civilized and ecological tourism thinking of the local community.
First of all, the fruit garden has been renovated to be clean and beautiful, green and lush, then the rivers and waters have no waste. Moreover, many tourism workers choose to wear ao ba ba, not industrial clothes, but they seem to wear it like everyday media" - Ms. Huong added.
And Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Thien (Dong Thap province) shared that he is from the Mekong Delta, checking in at many eco-tourism spots, but there are few places that invest in green tourism in a systematic way like Con Son.
I highly welcome and fully support the fact that people actively limit the use of disposable plastics. The tourism trend of the future around the world is definitely to return to the original values of nature, towards sustainability. I have a belief, if you continue to preserve and conserve such a pristine ecological living environment, Con Son is not only the leading destination of the Mekong Delta region but can completely become a world-class destination, strongly attracting international tourists" - Mr. Thien said.
Keep the green sustainable
The entire Con Son islet area in Can Tho City currently has about 65 households living and attached for a long time. Among them, more than 30 households have directly participated in eco-tourism business activities and 20 households are closely linked together in the Con Son Agricultural Tourism Cooperative (HTX) model.
In fact, what creates the specialness is the core in the philosophy of tourism development. Accordingly, people are determined to keep over 90% of the green area and natural water surface, maintaining sustainable ecological landscapes instead of urbanization or concretization chasing short-term profits.
According to Ms. Le Thi Be Bay, advisor of Con Son Agricultural Tourism Cooperative, the movement "Say no to plastic waste" was launched widely in each household and spread to tourists from all directions. Many gardeners have proactively switched to using banana leaves available in the garden to wrap food and cakes instead of nylon bags.
Along with that are sorted trash cans placed all over the walkways accompanied by cute messages reminding tourists to dispose of garbage in the right places. Volunteer youth teams also regularly launch campaigns to collect garbage on rivers, canals and plant more trees to prevent landslides and preserve sandy land.
Typically, at the first stop, Bay Bon fish raft, old farmer Ly Van Bon believes that opening the door for tourists to visit is beyond the meaning of pure economic profit. For Con Son people, promoting rare fish species of the Mekong River, both to let people know and love this Con Son land more.
I want to convey the message of environmental protection and water source protection to everyone" - Mr. Bon added.
Constantly innovating
According to Ms. Be Bay, besides constantly improving the quality of service to tourists, garden owners all agree on the view that the dream of green and sustainable tourism must be realized comprehensively. To do this, Con Son still has a lot of work to do and needs synchronous support from stakeholders, including investing in wastewater and waste treatment infrastructure to promoting existing local values. Above all, the decisive factor is the persistence and consensus of the Con Son community itself in the face of the temptations of short-term profits.
The future of Con Son promises to be a green picture, where people and nature live in harmony, relying on each other. The Hau River will continue to flow diligently, bringing alluvium to make the land more fertile and the people here will continue to write their green fairy tale" - Ms. Bay said.
Ms. Phan Kim Ngan (commonly known as Bay Muon), Head of Con Son Agricultural Tourism Cooperative - acknowledged that Con Son tourism has gradually affirmed its position, but that does not mean that gardeners "fall asleep".
We regularly organize meetings to listen to the tourism situation weekly and monthly, especially to grasp the psychology and desires of tourists. At that time, anyone who sees any problems will be presented and proposed solutions immediately. We determine that we must grasp the new tourism trend to integrate and serve the community," Ms. Bay Muon said.
Starting tourism in 2015, after more than 10 years of formation and development, many Con Son farmers have escaped poverty, raised their children to study and returned to their hometowns to serve. That is the reason why the people of Con Son are always determined to escape backward thinking to continue building a healthy green "heart", beating sustainable beats along with the development of Tay Do.
