The Prospects of Agritourism in Can Tho

Agritourism is booming in most developing nations such as Vietnam. This paper explores the efforts placed to develop and expand the agritourism industry through boat ferrying and bicycle tour. This report examines the suitability of Can Tho province as a tourist attraction region, challenges faced and possible amendments to ensure that the area remains a tourist attraction hub for visitors from most parts of the world. Boat ferrying and bicycle tours are the most dominant means of transport among tourists and dwellers along the Mekong Delta. There has been a looming political storm between China and Vietnam who are their neighbors on the North. This report evaluates how this might affect the agri-tourism industry of Can Tho. However, changes in the climatic patterns affect the means of transport used to ferry tourists from one area to another along the Mekong Delta. Various DMO websites have critiqued and reviewed the potential of Can Tho as an agritourism zone. Most place emphasis on the most dominant modes of transport along the Mekong Delta and how their contribution towards agritourism. A target market analysis has also been done to evaluate the most preferred means of transport among various tourists who visit Can Tho. Results of the report showed that Can Tho is a viable region for agritourism which is dependent on bicycle tour and boat ferrying as the main means of transport. However, different methods of transportation can be incorporated into the agritourism docket with the aim of promoting eco-tourism in Vietnam.

The bottom line is to address various challenges and glitches that hinder the growth and development of the agritourism sector in Can Tho by focusing on improved bicycle tour and boat ferries.
Introduction
The primary products in this paper are bicycle tours and boat ferrying as the main means of transport in Can Tho. Vietnam is dependent on agriculture where most dwellers are either farmers or fishermen. Most farmers depend on boat ferrying as the main mode of transport along the canals and the Mekong Delta. Consequently, bicycles are used for inland transportation. The agritourism industry is gradually and steadily growing to attract more tourists from various parts of the world. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (2016), foreign visitors have increased at a rate of 25.4% since 2015. Consequently, other crucial indicators of the economy such as the Index of Industrial production, retail sale of goods and services and the total export turnover recorded an improvement (“Vietnam | Data”, 2016). This is a clear indicator that despite the slow economic growth in the region, Vietnam is still viable for agritourism. Most visitors cite the proximity of the various tourist sites using boats and bicycles as a crucial and influential factor that affect agritourism. Most farming opportunities in Vietnam remains untapped as this is the only route towards developing the agritourism sector in Can Tho. However, the collaboration between the Vietnamese government, donors and foreign investors is pivotal in promoting agritourism in Can Tho and neighboring cities which are situated along the Mekong Delta. The proximity of the city to tourists is an added advantage to Can Tho city since it is placed strategically mid-way along the Mekong Delta.
Can Tho’s over-reliance on agriculture as the sole means of survival is devastating? In the quest to reduce over-reliance on agriculture, Can Tho should consider shifting its focus and attention to attracting more tourists. The city has already caught the eye of most tourists who constantly use boats and bicycles as the most common means of transport. The remaining task would be to launch a revolution that would drift the attention of the foreign visitors to agritourism (Ivezić, 2014). Furthermore, this is an opportunity to transform Can Tho city into a dynamic modern city that conforms to the large cities of developed nations.
Agritourism
Agritourism is a new form of tourism where tourists visit farms where agricultural products are grown. Navigation through the various fruit farms is necessitated by the canals linking one farm6 to another along the Mekong Delta. The ultimate agenda is to encourage more tourists to visit the fruit farms using boats and therefore to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the orchard farms. This is also an opportunity to improve the living standards of the Can Tho dwellers through foreign exchange paid by the visiting foreigners. According to Murphy, Moscardo, & Blackman (2014), tourism can be used as a resource for developing tropical communities such as the Can Tho dwellers. However, the contribution of tourism towards community well-being cannot be overlooked. The success of agritourism along the Mekong Delta is reliant on the suitability of boat ferrying and bicycle tours as the most crucial means of transport. This is all in the quest to realize sustainable tourism development (Bramwell & Lane, 1993).
Potential Agritourism in Can Tho
Can Tho Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has set a target of reaching 4.8 million marks of tourists by the year 2020 (“Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism,” 2014). This replicates to a total of 6000 billion Vietnamese Dongs to the economy of the city. In the quest to achieve the set target, Can Tho has rolled out several strategies aimed at improving and upgrading the tourism industry. Agritourism remains a lucrative development sector because agriculture is the backbone of Can Tho’s economy. The Vietnamese government has already rolled out a plan to improve movement along the canals along the Mekong Delta. The geographical location of the city of Can Tho along the Mekong Delta favors farming and fishing. However, the most crucial stage of development is promoting the interaction between tourists and the farming communities along the Mekong Delta by wooing more tourists to visit the fruit farms.
Can Tho province has vast tracts of arable land and are estimated to be 155, 000 hectares for farming fruits, rice and various types of vegetables. However, there have been numerous cases of tourists visiting local gardens to learn how the Can Tho dwellers do farming and relating agriculture with their cultural values. This is due to the poor states of the canal and other means of transport. Can Tho dwellers have a variety of cultural dishes and fruits which are the promoters of agritourism within the area (McGehee & Kim, 2004). Most foreign visitors are from the United States, France, and Germany. The Chinese and the Australian governments funded the construction of bridges linking Can Tho to the central city of Ho Chi Minh.
Audit on Existing DMO Websites
TripAdvisor
The TripAdvisor Website provides an overview of Can Tho city along the Mekong Delta. Their focus is the location of the city at a point where the Mekong river empties into the sea. They support the product in question by showcasing the joy of riding a boat as a means of transport along the canals as one navigates from one city to another. The floating markets of Can Tho are also a principal point of concern offering authentic local fruits. The TripAdvisor estimates the distance between Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho to be approximately a 4-hour drive using a car or a van. However, they propose four hotels for visitors with customer reviews for each. The most outstanding hotels are Victoria Can Tho Resort, Nam Bo Boutique, Villa My Long Homestay, and the West Hotel. Consequently, TripAdvisor provides an exploration route for various tour destinations in Can Tho. The top rated Can Tho restaurants offer cuisine depending on the origin of the foreign visitors. Asian tourists prefer the Phuong Nam Restaurant; the French opt for the L’Escale restaurant and the Café English café for the British (“Can Tho 2016: Best of Can Tho, Vietnam Tourism – TripAdvisor”, 2016). The main points of interests showcasing the landmarks of Can Tho and their culture are the Ong Temple and the Quang Duc Pagoda. Additionally, tourists can visit the Sau Hoai’s Rice Noodle factory to learn about various foods and drinks of the Can Tho dwellers. The TripAdvisor website commends the means of transport used by the Can Tho residents as they move from one area to another.
MEKONG TOURS
According to Mekong Tours (2016), Can Tho has a rich cultural heritage that attracts foreign visitors from all part of the globe. However, they praise the product under study by pointing out how the floating market tour is the most joyous incident where a boat is used to transport tourists from one market to another. The culture of the Mekong Delta is also graced by all types of Vietnamese foods and dishes. Others include a 15-km bicycle tour, 2-hour tour of the Can Tho City, and spa and massage sessions after a days’ tour (“MEKONG TOURS”, 2016). The Mekong Tours website has placed a price tag, duration, distance, departure time and contact details of each bicycle and boat tour. The most outstanding tours by preference are the floating market tour, Can Tho food tour, a bicycle tour and the Can Tho city tour. The Mekong Tours website proposes Hotel Xoai as the perfect place to live while in Can Tho. This is due to the hotel’s proximity to main places of tourist attraction such as the famous Tham Tuong Church and the iconic Quang Duc Pagoda. They also advertise the good condition of the hotel and thereby provide contact details for booking purposes.
Vietnam Online
The Vietnam online website refers Can Tho city as the heart of the Mekong Delta region. They praise the waterway network where canals are used as the transport routes to the floating markets of Can Tho. The Vietnam Online website recognizes the farming of fruits in orchards, and this stands out as an important marketing strategy for the agritourism sector. The temperatures of Can Tho averages at around 27 Celsius degrees which necessitate all year long tourism. The most conspicuous places in Can Tho are the floating market of Cai Rang, Nam Nha Pagoda market, the famous Binh Thuy French house and the Bang Lang Stork Park (“Can Tho Tourist Attractions – Places to visit in Can Tho”, 2016). However, other scenic sites include the old village of long Tuyen and the beautiful scene of Hau river along the Mekong Delta.
Lonely Planet
The lonely planet website markets Can Tho as the preferred destination for travel due to its floating markets and the experience of riding boats along the canals linking various cities. They propose the Cai Rang and Phong Dien floating markets, the Ong temple and the Can Tho Museum as the most prioritized sights where visitors can travel. According to the lonely planet (2016), Can Tho city has fabulous hotels and hostels, and they provide a hotel management system where visitors can check in and out while specifying the number of guests. There are numerous Vietnamese restaurants such as the Spices restaurant, the Nam Bo, and the L’Escale which offer international cuisine for visitors from all parts of the world (Planet, 2016). However, the Quan Com Chay Coung restaurant is set aside for vegetarians. The lonely planet website also provides survival guides based on the total cost, health considerations, flights to Vietnam and ultimately road travel to Can Tho city.
Central Coast Vietnam
The central coast website was the latest DMO initiative aimed at marketing Can Tho-based on the beautiful sceneries and the rich cultural heritage of the dwellers. The external appearance of their website is attractive depicting the scenic beauty of Vietnam. The central coast Vietnam leaders proposed this DMO as a platform to showcase the diversity of the area as a viable tourist attraction region (“Vietnam’s Central Coast Tourism Leaders Join Forces to Promote Asia’s Hottest New Destination – Montgomerie Links”, 2016). They have a list of activities, UNESCO site, art and culture centers, golf playgrounds, dining and accommodation places (“Central Coast Viet Nam”, 2016). They also give a guide on how one can plan their trips to various destinations either through bicycle or boat riding. They also provide offers and inform visitors about what’s going on in the news and event column. Information on how to get to Vietnam and a conjoined map guide is provided with all the necessary specifications for travel such as time and cost. The website gives a hint of the current weather of the place to forewarn foreign visitors. Transportation routes using bicycles and boats to the various parts of the country are also provided with basic trip ideas.
Challenges and barriers to development in Can Tho
Developing nations such as Vietnam face many complexities such as political instability, issues with transparency and other development issues in their quest to attain sustainable tourism development. There have been numerous complains about the effectiveness of boat riding and bicycle tour as the most important means of transport. Nevertheless, the issues of income inequality, minimal human resources and the low levels of capital accumulation are barricades to sustainable tourism management. Can Tho dwellers are over dependent on their farming and fishing? According to Murphy, Moscardo, & Blackman (2014), several hurdles hinder the growth and development of agritourism in Can Tho. The major challenges include the supply chain, seasonality of the agricultural produces, and minimal knowledge of the dwellers on the various tourist markets to explore. However, the tourism distribution system used in agritourism is still unknown to many due to lack of training. Consequently, lack of diverse infrastructure to necessitate the movement of tourists from one region to another in Can Tho is also a major blow to the prospectus agritourism industry. Climactic changes along the Mekong Delta may lead to flooding which affects farming and human settlement. However, the rising sea level due to global warming denotes heavy downpour in the area. Road infrastructure in Can Tho is poor, and access to orchards is limited to canal transport only where boats are used. Bicycles and boats can be used as the alternatives to the poorly developed road infrastructure.
Target Market Analysis
According to the Vietnam Tourist Statistics | Vietnam Travel (2016), Australian tourists account for 6% of the total foreign visitors after Taiwan, Japan, USA, South Korea and China which tops the list. Most middle aged and working class Australians visit Vietnam for leisure purposes or other business purposes. This paper places emphasis on the need to study the needs of the Australian tourists during their tour in Vietnam and efforts aimed at attracting more tourists from the same country. There are various traits of the dwellers which influence how they perceive agritourism in Can Tho. Can Tho has the potential and capability of attracting more Australian tourists who enjoy using boats to access the floating markets of Can Tho. Despite the great economic recession and inflation in Vietnam, the country is regaining from the aftermaths. This is denoted by reduced oil prices which had earlier on lead to an increase in the tourism costs. According to the Vietnam Travel website, the economy if progressively stabilizing with reduced oil prices (“Vietnam Tourism Statistics | Vietnam Travel”, 2016). However, attempts to revolutionize the advertisement platform are pivotal in motivating more tourists from Australia and other parts of the world to visit Can Tho, Vietnam. Most visitors have cited boat riding and bicycle tour as their primary element of attraction which others highly recommend their hospitality regarding accommodation. Consequently, the rich cultural heritage of the Can Tho dwellers and their diverse cuisine have been pivotal in attracting more tourists and promoting agritourism.
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