A seminar was held in Can Tho city on April 26 to discuss ways to
promote tourism in the Mekong Delta region, as part of Mekong Expo
2013’s framework.
Participants at the event agreed
that the region’s tourism potentials have yet been exploited adequately.
Tourism products and service quality remain limited, while
infrastructure serving the tourism sector is still poor.
Meanwhile, human resources for the sector have failed to meet the
sector’s demand – 4,000 workers are not enough to serve the 10 million
plus visitors that travel to the region every year, they said.
They suggested that localities in the region work together to upgrade
their tourism infrastructure, while encouraging various economic sectors
to invest in the industry.
A long-term master plan for tourism development in each regional locality is also needed, they said.
The localities ought to coordinate with each other in human resources
training and tourism promotion, as well as increase their quality
services.
The Mekong Delta region will enhance
its tourism development in four key groups up until 2020, focusing on
promoting all localities’ strengths in diverse tourism products such as
beach resorts, festivals, ecotourism and cultural tourism.
Located between Tien and Hau rivers, the 18 million-strong Mekong
Delta has abundant potentials for tourism development.
In 2012, the region attracted more than 19.4 million visitors and
earned about 4.3 trillion VND from tourism-related activities, an
increase of 23.2 percent from the year before.-VNA