Mekong Delta’s tourism sector seeks ways to take off
Experts and travel operators gathered at a workshop in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on June 9 to seek ways to promote the region’s tourism potential.
Can Tho (VNA) – Experts and traveloperators gathered at a workshop in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on June 9to seek ways to promote the region’s tourism potential.
Dr. Ho Thanh Tam, from the Can Tho College,underlined the need to develop infrastructure, create a favourable investmentenvironment for tourism, enhance connections among localities, build special tourismproducts and promote personnel training for the sector.
The regional provinces and cities should callfor more domestic and foreign investment in local infrastructure facilities byoffering open mechanisms and simplifying administrative procedures, Tam said.
Dr. Nguyen Quang Trung, from the Ho Chi MinhCity Technology University, said the ASEAN Community has implemented the MutualRecognition Agreement on Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP). Therefore, it isnecessary to accelerate the application of the ASEAN Common CompetencyStandards for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP) and the Common ASEAN TrainingCurricula (CATC), he elaborated.
Enterprises should be encouraged to join thetraining process while promoting international cooperation in the field toensure skilful and qualified human resources for the sector, Trung noted.
He cited the data from the Vietnam NationalAdministration of Tourism (VNAT) as saying that only 30 percent of tour guidesin the region are granted professional certificates. There is no educationalinstitution in the region offering post-graduate training programmes ontourism.
Trung suggested that the focus should be placed onlabour demand forecasting to make a database to develop more relevant trainingprogrammes. Educational institutions should connect closely with tourism companiesto offer tailor-made training and hands-on training services, he said, addingthat Can Tho University should take a leading role in training human resourcesfor tourism in the region.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi My Duyen, from An GiangUniversity, said each locality in the region should offer their typical tourismproducts. For example, Can Tho City is renowned for its river tours, orchardsand home-stay services. An Giang province has huge potential for spiritualtourism while Kien Giang develops its sea tourism in Phu Quoc island.
They should also connect with each other tooffer joint tours, featuring their respective potential, such as “community –spirituality – sea and island” tours, Duyen said.
In 2016, the Mekong Delta region earned 11.3trillion VND (497.2 million USD) from tourism, up 24 percent from 2015.
In thefirst three months of this year, Can Tho city – a centre of the region, welcomedover 1.86 million visitors, up 10 percent year on year. The city’s tourismsector earned 496 billion VND (21.8 million USD) in the period, up 2 percentyear on year.-VNA
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Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 
