Visitors at Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho city (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The Mekong Deltacity of Can Tho enjoyed strong growth in tourism last year due to a series ofinternational political and cultural events and traditional festivals,according to the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The number of tourist arrivals surged 40 percentto 7.5 million, while tourism revenues rose 61 percent to 2.9 trillion VND (127.6million USD).
The political, cultural and tourism eventsthe city hosted included the APEC Food Security Week, Vietnam-Japan Culture andTrade Exchange, and the Southern Traditional Cake Festival.
The tourism sector is focusing ondeveloping river-based tourism, especially upscale products such as three- tofive-star cruise ships, Le Minh Son, deputy director of the department, said.
It is encouraging investors to developinter-provincial and international river-based tours, he said.
The tours are designed to take inhistorical and cultural relics, traditional craft villages, and ecological andspiritual destinations.
Last year the neighbouring province of AnGiang attracted 7.3 million visitors, up 12 percent, earning revenues of 3.7trillion VND (162.8 million USD).
The province is the centre of spiritualtourism in the south, with people flocking especially to Ba Chua Xu Temple in ChauDoc town.
Kiên Giang province, with its beautifullandscapes, islands such as Phu Quoc, archipelagoes such as Nam Du and Ba Lua andthe U Minh Thuong National Park, attracted more than six million visitors lastyear.
The province’s tourism revenues were worthmore than 4.58 trillion VND (201.52 million USD), the highest in the delta. -VNA
VNA
