Mekong – Japan Tourism Culture Days: Opportunities to Glorify Mekong Delta Image

The Mekong – Japan Tourism Culture Days is held in Can Tho City for the first time from December 2 to 5, 2009 under the initiative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to introduce cultures and tourism potential of Mekong sub-region countries and Japan. Reporter Quang Dai of the Vietnam Business Forum has a talk with Mr Dinh Viet Khanh, Director of Can Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on this event.

Since early 2009, Can Tho City has made a careful preparation for this event. The receptionist subcommittee of the city has coordinated with the ministry’s agencies to plan and estimate the finance for welcoming guests. We have recruited and trained 60 volunteers who can speak Japanese and English to guide tourists and create a friendlier atmosphere where there is no language barrier. Delegates from participating countries are high-ranking government officials.

Could you briefly introduce major events during the Mekong – Japan Tourism Culture Days?

The Mekong – Japan Tourism Culture Days this year consists of Ministerial Meeting themed “Mekong – a culture connecting river” and discussions on Mekong – Japan cooperation on interconnection of cultures and tourism for the sake of sustainable development and prosperity; Mekong – Japan Tourism Fair; Mekong – Japan tourism culture photo exhibition; Mekong – Japan arts performance programme; seminar on tourism sustainable development in Mekong Delta and women’s volleyball tournament.

Main events are directly prepared by the ministry’s agencies and directly organise with the city. Can Tho City will responsible for one main event and sideline events. That major is the “For studious poor children” walk attended by Mekong countries on the opening day. About 5,000 people join this event, including officials from Mekong Delta countries, Vietnamese southerners and Can Tho residents. After the walk, the organising board presents US$10,000 from raised funds to studious poor students in Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. The money, in spite of its humble value, bears highly humanitarian significance and expresses public care for studious poor children. The total fund for the walk and the scholarship is estimated at VND1.3 billion.

On December 1, 2009, Can Tho City hosts a music show to raise funds for the walk. The music show is performed by famous singers in Ho Chi Minh City and is aired live on Vietnam, Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City televisions. Besides, the city also hosts sideline activities like folk music programme (on December 3 and 4), traditional boat racing and gastronomic culture festival (with 30 stalls organised for goods from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Japan), river tours and city tours.

What does the local tourism industry expect from this event?

The Mekong – Japan Tourism Culture Days is the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put forth at the Greater Mekong Sub-region – Japan Ministerial Meeting. This is an opportunity for the Can Tho tourism sector as well as Mekong Delta provinces to introduce the land and people of the delta to international friends and visitors.

Moreover, through this event, Can Tho people can contact and explore cultures in Mekong sub-region countries. We successfully organised the Vietnam National Tourism Year 2008 themed “Mekong water and garden world” because we strongly believe that, with our experience, will successfully hold the “Mekong – Japan Tourism Culture Days”. We hope, after this event, Vietnamese and international tourists will know more about the Mekong Delta and explore water – garden tourism world.

Posted by VBN on Dec 15 2009. Filed under Tourism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry