The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Dong Thap will promote linkages with HCM City as part of its efforts to revive tourism, authorities have said.
Tourists visit Tram Chim National Park, a popular attraction in Dong Thap Province. VNA/VNS Photo
The province had approved a plan for accelerating tourism revival with a number of measures focused on safe adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening linkages with other localities, Doan Tan Buu, deputy chairman of its People’s Committee, said.
The province was designated ‘medium risk’ in the four-level scale, Buu told a conference last week.
In the pilot phase of the tourism reopening roadmap between mid-November and mid-December Dong Thap plans to allow some tourist attractions to reopen, including the Xeo Quyt national relic, Nguyen Sinh Sac relic, Go Thap relic, Tram Chim National Park, and Phuong Nam cultural tourist site.
To fully reopen in mid-January, local authorities have instructed businesses to comply with safety measures.
The province plans to carry out a comprehensive assessment of its tourism potential to adopt measures to realise it.
“Linkages for tourism development between HCM City and 13 cities and provinces in Mekong Delta play a vital role in adapting to the pandemic in a safe manner,” Buu said.
Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said co-operation between HCM City and delta provinces began in 2019.
The second HCM City - Mekong Delta Tourism Connection Forum would be held in Dong Thap this year, paving the way for strengthening co-operation between the city and the province.
Travel products that link Cu Chi in HCM City, Moc Hoa in Long An and Tram Chim in Dong Thap should be promoted in the short term, Hoa said.
Travel operators in HCM City and major provinces in the south would also strengthen collaboration with Dong Thap to attract tourists to the province, she said.
Phan Thi Thang, deputy chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said community-based agro-tourism had become increasingly popular in Dong Thap, bringing economic benefits to farmers and enhancing protection of nature and development of local communities.
Community-based agro-tourism, which promises to attract domestic tourists amid the ‘new normal’ should be promoted in the province, she said.
The Go Thap Historical and Archaeological Heritage Site should be included in tour products between the city and Dong Thap, she said.
The two should foster mutual tourism co-operation and expand co-operation with other localities where the pandemic is under control to gradually revive tourism and bring back jobs, she added.