Can Tho City has been given the honour of hosting National Tourism Year 2008 by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Government of Vietnam. The national tourism year, themed “Mekong gardens and rivers”, is an especially important event, being the first held in Mekong Delta region.
Well-prepared Sizeable Plan
The national tourism year 2008 is an important event of the Mekong Delta tourism sector and the Vietnamese tourism industry as a whole. The activities of national tourism year 2008 will be held in Can Tho City, along with other provinces in the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City. Can Tho City has outlined the major activities for each month of the year. The tourism year will officially open in March 2008, but the organising board wants to start up the tourism year on the lunar new year, themed “Spring tourism.” Many activities will follow the official start of the national tourism year in March, including the third Mekong Delta Tourism Festival, the International Mekong Expo, the Mekong Delta Gastronomy Festival, and the Seminar on Mekong Delta Tourism, Travel and Tour Guide. In April, there will be a night festival to celebrate national liberation on April 30 and a Mekong Delta traditional boat racing festival. In June, there will be a “fruit” festival and Cai Cui seaport inauguration ceremony. In July, traditional ethnic culture and arts festival and Vietconstruct trade fair on building materials will be held. In August, the international trade fair and a workshop on potential and opportunity for tourism development in Mekong Delta.
In September, Tra Noc International Airport will be inaugurated, opening a new link between Can Tho City, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi City. In October, Can Tho City will host a boat racing festival at Ninh Kieu wharf. In November, there will be three major events, namely, the fourth southern national cultural and sports festival, the national museum conference and the international maritime trade fair on shipbuilding technology, Vietship. In December, Can Tho City will inaugurate the Can Tho Bridge, open the international trade fair on agriculture and close national tourism year 2008 to welcome the new year 2009. In addition, each province in the Mekong Delta has registered to organise one event, to diversify the tourism year. The year 2008 will be a year of joy and festivals in the Mekong Delta.
Issues to be solved
Although the tourism year is well prepared, the organisation of the events requires solving several problems. For example, the “southern fruit” festival is set to take place when the fruit season has already passed, the inauguration of the Cai Cui seaport in June is inappropriate because it cannot be finished until 2010, while its first phase was already inaugurated in 2007, and the inauguration of Tra Noc airport is uncertain.
At a recent meeting with relevant agencies to prepare for national tourism year 2008, many people said the proposed programmes did not follow the “Mekong gardens and rivers” theme. The organisation of the tourism year should be professional, attracting visitors from far and wide to the locality. According to Mekong Delta Tourism Company, to organise the tourism year 2008, the city should have a unified management apparatus. However, even now, the procedure to establish the tourism year steering board has not been decided, leaving this to much later than it should be. Can Tho Department of Tourism said it has sent the proposed festival plans to other localities in the Mekong Delta. When the steering board and the organising board are set up, preparations for the tourism year will be initiated immediately. It is now eight months prior to the opening of the tourism year 2008, and projects are waiting for decisions. In addition, advertisement for the tourism year has not yet been activated.
According to experienced officials, Can Tho-based tourism companies have not done anything to welcome the tourism year. Several projects designed to serve the tourism year 2008 have not been carried out, including Binh Thuy Lo Vong Cung ancient village, approved in early 2007,
To successfully host the national tourism year 2008, it is vital to mobilise the efforts of all concerned units in addition to Can Tho City, to provide momentum for tourism movement and to attract more and more investors and visitors to Can Tho City and the Mekong Delta.
Huong Thao
Vietnamese
