Ms. Le Dinh Minh Thy, Director of Vietravel Can Tho, says: “COVID-19 changes tourism trend. Tourists now travel in small groups and focus on safety. Travel agencies must rapidly adapt with appropriate products and services from time to time”. In the Mekong Delta region, Vietravel is one of the most flexible tourist companies. Rapidly adapting to the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company associated with other units to stimulate demand based on localities’ strengths. Vietravel cooperates with Azerai Resort Hotel, Victoria Resort, Can Tho Ecolodge, TTC, Iris… to create tour packages with good prices. Moreover, Vietravel affiliated with airlines, waterway transport units, and restaurants to build safe tour packages. The company also set safety standards to co-exist with Covid-19. It is safe destinations, safe services, and trained employees in Covid-19 prevention and control. Therefore, from the end of August, Vietravel has welcomed back large groups of tourists. In September and October 2020, Vietravel has served nearly 15,000 visitors and many groups with more than 500 tourists. Ms. Le Dinh Minh Thy adds: “It can be seen that the tourism stimulus program and safe tourism program are the basic solutions. We also renew our products and services to meet the needs of the domestic tourism market, because Vietravel's strength was in the international market in the past.

The rustic beauty of Cai Rang floating market. Photo: Kieu Mai

Safety is also one of the most important factors for the Victoria Hotel system in the Mekong Delta. Ms. Vo Xuan Thu, General Director of Victoria Can Tho Hotel, says: “Before, during and after waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Hotel always strictly complies to the safety standards to ensure the safety of visitors, raise tourist's awareness about the pandemic and how they can protect themselves”. Realizing that sharing and linking are the keys to stimulate demand effectively, Victoria Hotel also cooperated with airlines to offer tourists to Can Tho the best price. Furthermore, the company initiated the Victoria Mekong Cruise on the international river route Can Tho - Phnom Penh and the cruise had its cabins full of tourists in March 2020. After that, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company changed to Mekong Wellness Cruise,  traveling from Can Tho to An Giang, which combines local culture exploration and yoga classes, outdoor meditation, workshop, etc. for body purification,  mental healthcare, suitable with the current trend of focusing on the travelers' health. Victoria Can Tho Hotel also introduced the “Daycation” resort right in the heart of Can Tho city with preferential price, suitable for travelers who want to relax without going somewhere far.

Many tourist agencies focus on local tours and on-site tours in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Pham Hai Viet, Director of Special Life Travel, says: “We have moved from the big groups to independent travelers, small groups. Plus, we redefine our strategy that is focusing on local products”. Since then, Mr. Pham Hai Viet has built new tours to experience the indigenous culture. For instance, “the journey to Cai Rang land”, “One day exploring the sweet island” (Tan Loc island), and so on. These products deeply exploited the land and people in Can Tho. Visitors will go sightseeing and experience things close to the life of the locals. Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoang, Deputy General Director of My Khanh Tourism Village, says: “Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not cut our staff. When we stop receiving guests, we embellish the landscape and concentrate on making new products and services ”. Specifically, we invest in the cultural and architectural area of four ethnic groups of Kinh - Hoa - Khmer - Cham and traditional craft villages. We also recreate the floating market inside the tourist village and organize the My Khanh Fruit - Cake Festival with the theme “the sweetness of the Western Capital”, etc.

Tourists relax at Can Tho Ecolodge. Photo: Kieu Mai

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, most tourist companies in Can Tho were still quite passive and only temporarily responded to the pandemic. But not long after that, they became more active as they turned challenges into opportunities and constantly changed to adapt to the current situation. This dynamicity has contributed to mitigating the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and building internal resources for the tourism of Can Tho city to recover and develop.

In 2020, Can Tho tourism welcomed about 5.6 million visitors, down 36.8% compared to 2019. Particularly, there were 2 million arrivals of tourists staying overnight in the city, a decrease of 32.8%. Total revenue from tourism was estimated at 3,169 billion VND, down 28.6%.