The southern province of Cà Mau is greatly focused on tourism development, especially eco-tourism to make use of its natural advantages.

The Sông Trẹm Eco-tourism Site in U Minh District, around one hour's drive from Cà Mau City, is one of the most popular of its kind.

Nguyễn Hoàng Khởi, head of the site's management, speaks to Việt Nam News about the province’s eco-tourism strengths and how it can contribute to protecting the environment.

What is your assessment of the strengths and potential of Cà Mau Province’s eco-tourism industry?

Cà Mau’s bio-diversity is very rich, the most noteworthy aspects being its mangrove and cajuput forests and a wide range of rare animals and plants.

This is a big advantage for the province in developing eco-tourism, which relies heavily on natural resources.

Many tourists enjoy ecological and community tourism because they like learning more about the cultures of different regions, their environment and how people live there, and sampling local dishes.

It is not without hurdles, however. At first there were problems related to the surrounding traffic infrastructure, including transport of visitors as 45-seater buses could not travel on the roads. However, the Government has been investing in building roads and expressways connecting Cà Mau with other provinces, making it much easier for people to visit local tourism sites.

The local administration also pays great attention to assisting the Sông Trẹm Eco-tourism Site with its operations.

What are some of the eco-tourism activities at your site?

Here at the Sông Trẹm Eco-tourism Site visitors can enjoy beautiful natural landscapes, clean, cool air and being surrounded by old green trees.

They can visit flower gardens and roads, fruit orchards, admire a range of animals in our care such as Asian black bears, ostriches and crocodiles, and experience a boat trip around our 40-year-old cajuput forest, which is carefully preserved to serve tourists who wish to learn more about diverse flora and fauna.

Tourists like our experiential activities such as placing bamboo cages to catch fish and eels and watching bee keepers harvest honey, trying out local foods like grilled snakehead fish, snakehead fish hot pot, sour eel soup, and even the exotic bee larvae salad.

Many also enjoy camping, and the site also hosts school field trips and team building trips by companies.

What are some of the benefits that eco-tourism provides when it comes to the environment and sustainable development?

Eco-tourism activities tend not to alter the scenery found in nature; they preserve the unique natural resources in their respective regions, and to keep their air clean they do not cause much air pollution when compared to other more ‘industrial’ tourism models, which are important for sustainability.

Tourists who love eco-tourism are aware of the importance of environmental protection and have a better appreciation of nature and culture.

What should tourism businesses do to improve eco-tourism?

It is very important for businesses to have a high-quality workforce that has deep knowledge about tourism and pays close attention to promoting themselves on a wide variety of channels.

We ourselves are working with consultants on our plans to develop the Sông Trẹm Eco-tourism Site’s eco-tourism and entertainment activities, all while staying in line with Cà Mau Province’s policies and national strategies on tourism, preserving bio-diversity and socio-economic development.

This is important for us to improve our ability to protect natural resources and raise awareness of their importance, care for wild animals and plants to serve tourism and promote unique local cultures. VNS