Visitors take a boat tour around a nipa palm farm in Ben Tre province. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, renowned as the kingdom of coconut and for its large acreages of fruit farming, is striving to become a top destination for ecotourism and river-based tours.
The province has been focusing on seizing its advantages to develop tour packages, including ecotourism, river-based tourism, sight seeing at historic and cultural relics, community-based tourism and leisure tourism, according to Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Ban.
One of the most popular ecotourism projects in Ben Tre is Nghenh Xuan Farmstay in Thanh Trieu commune in the district of Chau Thanh, which lies on the banks of Thanh Trieu River.
The 1.6-ha farmstay has 19 rooms, providing visitors with river views and a unique experience inside a fruit plantation, said Le Quang Than, manager of Nghenh Xuan Farmstay.
Visitors pick fruits in a farmstay in Ben Tre province. (Photo: VNA)Guests of the farmstay can take part in a wide range of adventures here, from river swimming, boat trips to fishing and cycling in the neighbouring countryside, he said, adding that the farmstay also cooperates with ten plantations to offer the guests sight-seeing and fruit-picking tours.
Chau Thanh’s Tan Phu commune is a paradise of tropical fruits in Ben Tre with numerous plantations growing durian, mangosteen, lanzones, jackfruit, rambutan, longan and others.
Paying only 80,000 VND (3.44 USD) per person for entrance, visitors can take a tour around a fruit farm and devour a fresh fruit buffet straight from the trees.
Tran Duc Thang, Director of Miet Vuon Farmstay in Tan Phu’s Tan Qui village, said his facility often serves 50 – 60 visitors daily during weekdays and up to 400 visitors at weekends.
Fruit farms in Tan Phu are coordinating with each other to provide visitors with a greater variety of fruits to enjoy. Travellers here can also have a taste of local cuisine with various unique dishes, from chicken porridge, giant gourami to snail sashimi and “banh xeo” (crispy Vietnamese pancakes).
Now that COVID-19 is in the rear-view mirror, the province has organised a number of promotion events to revive local tourism activities, most notably among which were those held in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City, said Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Ban.
In the coming time, Ben Tre plans to take more measures for tourism recovery, he said, noting that the province will continue promote itself as a safe, friendly and quality destination; and accelerate cooperation with other cities and provinces, particularly HCM City and Mekong Delta provinces, to develop tourism.
The province has been calling for investors both at home and overseas to develop luxurious river-based and seaside resorts, and those for cultural and spiritual tourism and MICE./.
