Visitors to HCM City usually find ithard to find local food specialties like candies to take back home asgifts due to the absence of tourist stores even though the country is ahaven for tropical farm products.
“I don’t knowwhere to buy locally made confectionery,” admitted Phan Quoc Viet, anEnglish speaking tour guide with Sunrise Travel Agency.
He said he was embarrassed once when asked by guests to take them to a shop to buy candies.
“I know confectionery can be found at any local supermarket but theproblem is they were looking for a store specialising in local brands,something not easy to find.”
“So I just recommended Ben Thanh Market.”
“Candies served in hotel lounges are mostly imported,” he explained.
The country exports fruits like rambutan, pine-apple, coconut,jackfruit, and banana to more than 60 countries and territories,according to the Institute of Southern Fruits .
But processors pay little attention to international visitors aspotential customers despite the fact that many of them love to samplelocal tropical fruits or products made from them, like candies andcookies.
“I especially love cakes made of coconut or cassava which I eat rightaway because they taste exotic, delicious, and really Vietnamese,” aJapanese visitor who identified herself as just Shiubu said.
She would love to buy chocolate cookies which are tasty and much cheaper than in Japan , she said.
“Except cashew nuts and coffee, which are typical of the country, Idon’t know what other specialties I should take home,” Italian touristLaure Pausini said.
A German tourist who was travelling with his wife, said he was excitedto see how coconut candies and rice cakes are hand-made in the MekongDelta localities of Ben Tre and Can Tho.
“If these agricultural products are made easily accessible to touristsin cities, I think they will become very popular,” he added.
Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Travel Agency, stressed the need toopen specialised shops for tourists that sell a variety of localspecialties.
“All goods there must be of high quality, safe, and produced by credible companies,” he said.
“We should make tourists spend more in the country.”
He said foreign guests are interested in desiccated fruits, coffee, and tea.
“If local travel agencies support the opening of a specialty store forinternational tourists, we will be more than happy to feature ourproducts there,” Nguyen Anh Trung, deputy general director of GivralBakery, said./.
“I don’t knowwhere to buy locally made confectionery,” admitted Phan Quoc Viet, anEnglish speaking tour guide with Sunrise Travel Agency.
He said he was embarrassed once when asked by guests to take them to a shop to buy candies.
“I know confectionery can be found at any local supermarket but theproblem is they were looking for a store specialising in local brands,something not easy to find.”
“So I just recommended Ben Thanh Market.”
“Candies served in hotel lounges are mostly imported,” he explained.
The country exports fruits like rambutan, pine-apple, coconut,jackfruit, and banana to more than 60 countries and territories,according to the Institute of Southern Fruits .
But processors pay little attention to international visitors aspotential customers despite the fact that many of them love to samplelocal tropical fruits or products made from them, like candies andcookies.
“I especially love cakes made of coconut or cassava which I eat rightaway because they taste exotic, delicious, and really Vietnamese,” aJapanese visitor who identified herself as just Shiubu said.
She would love to buy chocolate cookies which are tasty and much cheaper than in Japan , she said.
“Except cashew nuts and coffee, which are typical of the country, Idon’t know what other specialties I should take home,” Italian touristLaure Pausini said.
A German tourist who was travelling with his wife, said he was excitedto see how coconut candies and rice cakes are hand-made in the MekongDelta localities of Ben Tre and Can Tho.
“If these agricultural products are made easily accessible to touristsin cities, I think they will become very popular,” he added.
Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Travel Agency, stressed the need toopen specialised shops for tourists that sell a variety of localspecialties.
“All goods there must be of high quality, safe, and produced by credible companies,” he said.
“We should make tourists spend more in the country.”
He said foreign guests are interested in desiccated fruits, coffee, and tea.
“If local travel agencies support the opening of a specialty store forinternational tourists, we will be more than happy to feature ourproducts there,” Nguyen Anh Trung, deputy general director of GivralBakery, said./.
