To awake potential of Saigon River ecotourism

Ecotourism is increasingly favored by many tourists. With a total length of more than 256km, Saigon River is being developed by Binh Duong provincial tourism industry and travel agencies into a chain of tourist attractions with river tourism products.

Experts assess that the potential for river tourism in Binh Duong is huge.

 The jewel of tourism industry

Not far from Ho Chi Minh gateway, tourists who have just passed Phu Long Bridge may explore Phu Long communal house in Lai Thieu ward, Thuan An town. This is a national-level historical monument with the most unique architecture in Binh Duong. From Phu Long communal house, traveling by road about 1km away, tourists may visit Lai Thieu's piggy bank traditional handicraft village.

Pham Phu Nam, Chairman of People's Committee of Lai Thieu ward, said that with a location near Saigon - Gia Dinh, Lai Thieu used to be the center of Thu Dau Mot province. Few people know that Lai Thieu used to have a beautiful ancient town that was famous for many craft villages, notably pottery and ceramics. However, in the urban development process, most ceramic production establishments were relocated, currently only a few households do some processing stages of traditional piggy banks. In Lai Thieu, visitors also come to orchards in Lai Thieu, Binh Nham, and An Son.

“The cultural and historical value of pottery and ceramics is something that the town wants to preserve and develop. This is also a craft village that attracts many tourists into Lai Thieu. Therefore, the authorities are planning to encourage people living on a number of roads of the old town, such as Phan Dinh Phung street, to create tourism products”, Mr. Nam said.

Leaving Thuan An town on a journey upstream of Saigon River, visitors arrive in Thu Dau Mot City. The cool breeze from the river, away from urban noises, makes Saigon River boat trip more interesting. Then the boat arrived at Bach Dang wharf (near Thu Dau Mot market). About 100 meters away from the river, visitors may visit the national historical and cultural monument “Đốc phủ Đầu” ancient house. This over-hundred-year-old building with Southern typical three-storey architecture is preserved almost intact. The house is also a studio for dozens of cinematographic works to illustrate the life and activities of wealthy families of ancient Southern region.

At “Đốc phủ Đầu”, visitors may immerse themselves in a shopping space at Thu Dau Mot market; visit other historical - cultural works such as Hoi Khanh pagoda, historical relic Phu Loi prison; discover hotels near Saigon River, enjoy cuisine, and enjoy the sunset and the shimmering night beauty of Thu Dau Mot on boat.

From Thu Dau Mot City, it takes about an hour to come to Iron Triangle (Ben Cat Town) to explore An Tay Tunnels, immerse in the idyllic beauty of a peaceful countryside when coming to Bamboo Village Phú An. Here, visitors had the opportunity to explore the beauty of cultural space with more than 200 varieties of bamboo from across the country, as well as know the ability of environmental protection of bamboo and application of bamboo as handicraft products in daily life...

To make good use of potential

To awake this potential, Nguyen Viet Hung, Director of Song Thu Tourism Development Joint Stock Company, said that since 2018 the company had implemented a plan to develop river ecotourism to offer good products to visitors coming to Binh Duong.

“We want to join hands with the province's tourism industry to offer prestigious, good-quality and satisfying travel products and leave a good impression on visitors when visiting Binh Duong. The company has now built a variety of tours to meet the need for traveling on Saigon River as well as connecting attractive tourist destinations that visitors can access by water way”, Mr. Hung said.

In Sep 2019, Becamex Hotel, Song Thu Tourism Development Joint Stock Company organized two teams to survey tours in the province. The survey attracted more than 200 travel and tourism companies throughout the country. Talking with us after the survey, these tour operators found that Binh Duong had many advantages to develop a smokeless industry. However, in order to create a value chain from tourist destinations, Binh Duong tourism industry need to not only pay attention to promotion but also invest in a chain of tourism links in the province. Besides, it is necessary to create unique travel product packages that meet the needs of travelers.

“With the advantages and potential for tourism development, including existing river tourism, Binh Duong will attract many tourists when creating a chain of tourism products, such as river tourism connected with Cu Chi Tunnels (Ho Chi Minh City). Along with that, the province's tourism industry should offer packages of tourism products by boat for watching sunrise and sunset on Saigon River; investing in the construction of more wharves so that boat can visit river banks to visit tourist sites along Saigon River... ”, said Nguyen Ngoc Tan, Vice Chairman of Community Tourism.

Many other opinions also said that currently, due to the lack of connection, when traveling to Binh Duong by Saigon River, tourists must move too far. Besides, Binh Duong needs to form collaborative groups to produce related products for visitors to learn, explore or can participate in the stages of making rattan, bamboo products. The form of collaborative production groups of related products will help visitors explore, experience, and participate in making souvenirs themselves.

Reported by Minh Duy – Translated by Ngoc Huynh