Tourism in Mekong Delta needs revamping
19:08 04/03/2009

  Tourists attending an eco-tour in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region   Vietnam is now the second largest rice exporter in the world and the Mekong Delta is the center of rice production in the country.

Yet despite its prominence as a big rice exporter owning diversified ecology, the Mekong Delta failed to attract as many tourists as it should be.

It was revealed that there is much potential for economic b in the area but, unfortunately, local tour opera-tors are failing to entice visitors with less than exciting itineraries and ill-equipped guides.

Tourist Joseph Boneigh from Israel recently traveled with a guide to Vietnam's Mekong Delta for what he calls “ecology tourism.” However, what he saw was not as he had imagined it would be.

“I feel tourist guides here often fail, and are not sufficiently prepared to lead a sightseeing group to this place,” he remarked.

“They could not answer questions or provide the information we needed.

A young local guide on my team, for instance, couldn't say why fishermen could catch more fish in May than in other times of the year.”

Nicole Bakers, an American, said the organization and design of tours to the Mekong Delta seem poorly planned and that there is lack of coordination among local travel companies.

“I traveled there three times, but received the same standard package every time: a visit to a fruit garden and porcelain plant, a demonstration of how to catch fish in a lake, participating in a musical performance and resting under a fruit trees' shadow. That’s all. I feel local organizers should work out new ways to attract tourists wishing to return.”

Culture preservation

According to the Vinh Long Province Department of Trade and Tourism, most tourists are interested in taking part in such communal activities as listening to cai luong (traditional southern opera), visiting fruit garden, and making homestays.

These tourism activities alone provide nearly seven hundred jobs for locals.

Vo Anh Tai, manager of the Saigon Tourist Company in Ho Chi Minh City, also said “When developing communal tourism, it is imperative to consider the locals as the focal point and make things beneficial for them.

It is essential to set up a mechanism for dividing the benefits between the local residents and travel companies or tour operators.”

He meant that would make tour services more interesting.

On the other hands, many farmers acting as tourist services providers had complaints about tour operators offering overly competitive prices and lowering the quality of tourist services.

Manager of Lua Viet Travel Company, Nguyen Van My, bitterly complained, “We believe some unscrupulous tour operators had negative effects on the whole community.”

Professor Ernst Sagemueller, manager of the Europe Indochina Institute of Tourism (EIT), says, “The Mekong Delta should be carefully studied and ecotourism in the area should be developed in close relation with the long-standing traditional life of the local residents.

The area needs good-quality tourism focusing on visitors of 24 to 70 years of age who are well-educated and have an appreciation for nature, culture, religion, literature, sports and adventure.”

In addition to careful ecotourism, it seems that good strategic planning would be very helpful for local residents to develop communal tourism in a way that avoids providing similar services and activities that tourists find boring and don't inspire them to return.

Reported by Trung Bao - Huy Tuong

Source : thanhniennews.com