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| TERRACOTTA ROAD – Children take a stroll on a terracotta road to welcome Tết holiday in Vĩnh Long City’s Ward 9. VNA/VNS Photo by Thúy Hằng |
MEKONG DELTA Mekong Delta provinces welcomed millions of visitors during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.
An Giang Province received 771,000 local and international visitors from January 25 to February 2, up 0.4 per cent year-on-year.
The number of overnight guests was 7,240, including 1,600 foreign tourists.
Huỳnh Thị Như Lam, deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said An Giang had more potential and advantages for tourism development. The number of tourists arriving in the province has increased year by year.
The province’s most-visited attractions included the Sam Mountain National Tourism Area in Châu Đốc City with its magnificent landscape and over 200 temples and pagodas, the Trà Sư Cajuput Forest in Tịnh Biên District, and the Én Islet Ecotourism Area in Chợ Mới District.
Lam said that in 2025, An Giang will improve tourism services and products, focusing on river tourism, agricultural tourism, community-based tourism, and heritage tourism.
She added it will also promote linkages and cooperation with HCM City, provinces and cities in other regions.
The province targets to welcome 10 million visitors, including a million overnight guests in 2025, and tourism revenue of VNĐ11 trillion (US$435 million).
Bạc Liêu Province served more than 245,000 visitors, including 20,450 overnight guests. The holiday’s tourism revenue was around VNĐ100 trillion ($3.95 million).
Thousands of pilgrims from southern provinces and cities flocked to temples and pagodas in the province such as Quán Âm Phật Đài worshipping Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and Giác Hoa Pagoda to pray for peace, prosperity and luck in the new year.
Ngô Vũ Thăng, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee [administration], said Bạc Liêu will promote cultural tourism in 2025, focusing on building the province to become a cải lương (reformed opera) centre of the region.
The province also calls for investment in major tourism projects such as a tourism area in Tắc Sậy Town, Lập Điền Bird Garden in Đông Hải District, and a boat route connecting Tắc Sậy and Đông Hải to create more destinations and attract more visitors.
Bạc Liêu plans to welcome 5.5 million visitors and achieve VNĐ4.35 trillion ($1.72 million) in tourism revenue in 2025.
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| LOCAL COOKING – Visitors learn to make bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake) at a homestay in Vĩnh Long in Tết. VNA/VNS Photo by Thúy Hằng |
Meanwhile, Vĩnh Long has launched a series of festivities to serve residents and visitors during Tết. The province, known for having the most famous and largest brick and pottery villages in the Mekong Delta, opened a terracotta road to honour the art of pottery in Vĩnh Long City’s Ward 9.
The 500-metre road displays terracotta products from 16 pottery manufacturers in the province, such as vases, tea tables and stools, decoration items, and bricks. It has a model of a traditional house in the south and a traditional brick kiln.
The space also includes miniature flower arrangements and stalls selling traditional souvenirs for Tết to serve visitors.
Local tourism areas and craft villages have offered traditional Tết activities such as decorating houses, erecting New Year poles (bamboo poles adorned with symbolic items in the courtyard), setting up a five-fruit tray to worship ancestors, and making bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake), dried fruits and jams.
“These activities help homestay guests experience a traditional Tết atmosphere with family members sitting together cooking bánh tét through the night. It evokes many people’s memories, particularly those far from home,” Phạm Thị Ngọc Trinh, a homestay owner in Long Hồ District, said.
Vĩnh Long hosted 75,000 visitors during Tết, including 1,000 foreigners. The holiday’s tourism revenue was VNĐ38 billion ($1.5 million). VNS
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