The objective of the seminar is to bring together experts, administrative leaders from all levels, and all sectors concerned in the discussions in order to review what they have been able to do and what they have to do for the development of tourism products in Can Tho city. Through this meeting, the lessons of success and failure are to be learned; effective solutions and breakthroughs are to be found to better exploit tourism and other resources; a variety of quality products are to be created to enhance the competitive capacity in order to attract and keep tourists visiting Can Tho, a friendly and hospitable town.

Study of the creation of local tourist products

In recent years, the city of Can Tho has implemented programs, projects, and tourism development plans, which creates positive changes in the area, enhances its position as the center of the Mekong Delta. The number of visitors during the period 2015-2019, increased significantly from 4.7 million to 8.8 million with a growth of 1.9 times. In 2020, due to the negative impact of Covid-19, the number of tourists in Can Tho reached only 5,605,865, down 36.8% compared to 2019. In 2021, this figure continues to plummet.

In general, the tourism sector of Can Tho recorded positive results during the years before the pandemic. However, the city has experienced difficulties in terms of the development of tourism in general and the creation of tourism products in particular. Reality has shown that without intensive investments, Can Tho’s tourism products do not create new, original and attractive values to attract and keep visitors. Can Tho city, therefore, remains simply a rest area for visitors connecting to tourist sites in other places in the Mekong Delta.

Seminar “Development of tourism products in Can Tho city”

At the seminar, the experts, researchers, and research groups from the services and units of Can Tho and other localities present their research results and discourses around the theme of solutions for the promotion and development of tourism products in Can Tho, to be specified: development of tourism products in Can Tho according to market needs; local marketing strategies for Can Tho tourism; solutions for improving the efficiency of tourism development cooperation between Can Tho and other localities for the creation and promotion of new tourism products. All the speakers affirm that Can Tho has factors favorable to the development of tourist products such as tourist resources (countryside river landscapes, floating markets; historical and cultural relics, folk festivals, traditional craft villages, gastronomic culture, etc.); position tourist center of the Mekong Delta; infrastructure; human resources in the tourism sector; tourist markets ...

Advantages of typical products

The representatives and experts appreciate the potentialities and assets of Can Tho city for the development of typical tourist products such as MICE tourism, river tourism lines, agricultural products, community tourism products, the visit of historical and cultural remains linked to the development of tourism, the exploitation of local cultural values in the sustainable development of rural ecotourism, the potential of religious tourism and so on.

On the other hand, regarding the development of tourism products in concrete administrative units of Can Tho, the researchers focus on the evaluation of the assets, potentialities, and the actual situation of current important tourist sites such as the floating market of Cai Rang, old village of Long Tuyen, Tan Loc islet, Son islet… via presentations analyzing the actual situation of the Cai Rang floating market and the lesson learned from the Damnoen Saduak floating market (Thailand); the development of tourism in the old village of Long Tuyen according to the “Heritage Village” model; the development of typical tourist products in the islet, district of Thot Not; assessment of the actual situation and development of community-based tourism in Son islet.

Certain new types of tourism such as gastronomic tourism, luxury entertainment services; solutions such as the application of “digital transformation” in response to the Covid-19 pandemic context, adaptation for the restoration of tourism in the new normal situation ... are addressed in the seminar as problems of the development of new tourism products.

Mr. Dương Tan Hien - Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho city at the seminar

In his speech at the seminar, Mr. Duong Tan Hien, Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho city defines the important role of the development of tourism products linked to commercial brands to attract visitors and to study the experiences of other localities to have original products. Besides, collecting the opinions of scientists, studying the needs of customers for the creation of typical products are important tasks of Can Tho tourism. Mr. Duong Tan Hien appreciates the exchanges, the opinions for the creation of new products, the improvement of the quality of the services, the promotion of the tourism products of Can Tho to the local and international visitors. The Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho city hopes that through this seminar, experts, managers, employers, and employees in the tourism sector will have the opportunity to meet, to exchange experiences in the development of tourism products, cooperation and coordination of tourism in localities in the region, tourism promotion in target markets ... for the restoration and adaptation of the tourism in the current context.