Vietnamese authorities have shared a 9.5% year-on-year hike in tourist arrivals for the first half of 2019 into the Mekong Delta region, thanks to efforts to diversify and push tourism services.
In the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ for instance, the focus has been on upgrading attractions and developing new tourism products, including organising various cultural and tourism events to lure travellers such as April’s Southern Traditional Cake Festival and June’s Tân Lộc Fruit Garden Festival.
As a result, Cần Thơ City received 4.9 million tourists by June this year, its tourism revenue clocking in an estimated US$97.84 million, representing a 17% year-on-year increase. In this period, foreign tourist arrivals rose 13.6% to 199,500.
Even the provinces are stepping up their game, many organising FAM (familiarisation) trips towards the city centre to tighten product linkages and explore potential cooperation opportunities.
Kiên Giang Province is one such example, welcoming nearly 4.3 million tourists in the first half of 2019. The province’s most popular destination, Phú Quốc island alone saw over 2.2 million arrivals, a jump of 36% from the year before. Kiên Giang Province’s department of tourism attributes the increase to eco-tourism, exciting experiences, as well as new tourist attractions like the An Thới - Hòn Thơm cable car, and casino at Corona Resort and Casino.
Elsewhere in Đồng Tháp Province – ranked third in tourist arrivals within the Mekong Delta region – locals are embracing homestay tourism, bringing tourists into their lotus fields and flower gardens. The province is also developing agro-tourism sites, well in line with the global trend of experiential tourism.