Early one morning, this group of tourists from Ho Chi Minh City joined local people in the Dat Mui Cultural and Tourism Village in Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province for a tour.

Sitting on a boat gliding through tens of kilometres of immense green mangrove forests - which have been the setting of many films in the region - brings a lot of excitement.

Taking local tours introduced by the Dat Mui Cultural and Tourism Village not only give visitors the chance to discover nature but also experience rural life from spending time with people and eating dishes they prepared.

This community-based tourism model is to become a typical OCOP (One commune, One product) tourism product of Ca Mau province. Local people involved in tourism are also becoming more and more professional.

Having mangrove and freshwater ecosystems and abundant aquatic and seafood resources are strengths for Ca Mau in developing eco-tourism and community-based tourism.

With a goal of making tourism a key economic sector and becoming a bright spot on Vietnam’s tourism map, Ca Mau province is focusing on investing in eco-tourism and community-based tourism, exploiting a variety of tourism resources from agriculture.

Ca Mau has four tourist areas and 23 eco- and community-based tourism sites. Tourism that allows the local culture to thrive is effectively promoting the potential and advantages of the locality while ensuring livelihoods, thus contributing to economic development./.

VNA