Potential and Challenges

Currently, Can Tho possesses more than 636 accommodation facilities with over 11,000 rooms, including 131 establishments ranging from 1 to 5 stars. The quality of the hotel service standard in Can Tho is relatively high. Specifically, the homestay system in My Khanh Tourist Village received the ASEAN Homestay Award at the ASEAN Tourism Awards 2019 of ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF); hotels such as Muong Thanh, TTC Can Tho, Azerai Can Tho, My Thuan Homestay, Victoria Can Tho, have all received numerous domestic and international tourism awards. Notably, the 5-star hotels (Muong Thanh, TTC Can Tho, Sheraton) all feature large conference rooms, accommodating from 1,000 to 2,000 guests.

In addition to hotel infrastructure, Can Tho also has convenient transportation infrastructure. Can Tho International Airport currently has 4 airlines operating regular flights with an average frequency of 20-21 flights/day to major tourism provinces and cities: Hanoi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa... At the same time, the city also has a diverse range of entertainment, recreation services, supermarkets and large centers...

With these facilities, Can Tho has organized many large national and international conferences such as the Cooperation Conference between French and Vietnamese localities in Can Tho, the 5^th Vietnam-Japan Festival in Can Tho, Vietnam International Travel Mart Can Tho 2019 - VITM Can Tho, Southern Folk Cake Festival, 6th Conference on Tourism Cooperation Corridor in the Southern Region, 3rd Conference on Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta Adapting to Climate Change...

Speaking about the MICE tourism potential in Can Tho, Mr. Phan Dinh Hue, Director of Vong tron Viet Travel Company, said: "In the Mekong Delta, I think Phu Quoc, Can Tho and Ca Mau have the greatest potential for MICE tourism development. In addition to the locational advantage, Can Tho also has a convenient infrastructure system for transportation, and a diverse accommodation system, where many schools and hospitals in the region are located and can organize many regional and international conferences and large events. However, if MICE tourism is to develop, Can Tho must pay more attention to issues such as tourism product linkage, event organization space, human resources, and special mechanisms for MICE tourism".

Sharing the same view, Ms. Le Dinh Minh Thy, Director of Vietravel Can Tho, said: "If MICE tourism is identified as the main product, Can Tho should take advantage of existing infrastructure but focus on some outdoor space. In fact, when organizing large delegations of several thousand people, Can Tho currently does not have a space to meet outdoor activities. In contrast, MICE guest delegations always have a huge number of people. In addition, Can Tho should have a MICE tourism coordination board. In fact, when organizing MICE events, we have to ask for permission from many places for many activities, which takes a lot of time and is difficult in the process of organizing different tourist delegations".

Ms. Vo Xuan Thu, Director of Victoria Can Tho Hotel, added: "To develop MICE tourism, Can Tho needs special policies and mechanisms, including long-term oriented infrastructure planning, products, services, and human resources. In the short term, Can Tho can take advantage of its central position in the region to proactively organize seminars, conferences, and training courses to attract guests to Can Tho".

In reality, MICE tourism in Can Tho still faces many difficulties. Currently, Can Tho does not have many convention centers to organize large-scale events for thousands of people. Services, from meeting rooms, hotels, exhibition centers, and transportation methods are still not integrated and lack professionalism. The human resources serving tourism have not yet met the needs of international integration, and vocational skills, and foreign language proficiency are still limited. In addition, other factors also significantly affect the development of MICE tourism, such as tourism products, destinations are still monotonous, lack of large-scale entertainment and recreational complexes; and transportation infrastructure connecting and serving tourism development is still weak.

Many regional conferences and seminars have been organized in Can Tho. In the picture: Digital transformation in tourism Festival between Ho Chi Minh City and 13 provinces, city of Mekong Delta in Can Tho Muong Thanh Hotel.

Building a standard MICE tourism model

Based on analyzing Can Tho's potential and difficulties in MICE tourism, a research group from the Can Tho Institute of Economics - Social Development and the Business Research Institute - Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics proposed building a standard MICE tourism model, which requires establishing a MICE Tourism Coordinating Board. This board will provide and support services between parties: MICE organizing units (tourism companies, travel agencies, event companies), government agencies (licensing units for activities), and service units (destinations, accommodation, transportation). Accordingly, a public-private mechanism is needed to promote MICE tourism development, as well as preferential policies for MICE groups. With these proposals, the research group hopes to build a standardized MICE tourism model with the purpose of effectively and professionally connecting and operating MICE tourism.

Mr. Phan Dinh Hue, Director of Vong tron Viet Travel Company, said: "MICE customers rarely ask for prices. This is a high-spending customer segment that requires products and services to meet standards and be professional. Therefore, Can Tho wants to develop MICE tourism and necessarily needs a Coordinating Board and separate mechanism for this type of tourism." Meanwhile, Ms. Le Dinh Minh Thy, Director of Vietravel Can Tho, said: "To develop MICE tourism in Can Tho, it is also necessary to clearly identify the source markets. Currently, the source market for MICE tourists coming to Can Tho is Ho Chi Minh City and Southeast region due to transportation costs. In addition, Can Tho should have a map locating possible destinations for organizing MICE tourism, because currently when organizing MICE groups in Can Tho, we still have to recheck capacity and services, standards many times. So Can Tho should have a standardized system on MICE tourism provided to travel agencies and event organizers."

In reality, when organizing MICE tourism, event, and travel agencies will rely on 5 factors: infrastructure, diverse and distinctive organizing destinations, safe destinations, high-quality human resources, and diverse accompanying products and services to choose destinations for organization. Therefore, if Can Tho wants to develop MICE tourism, it must invest comprehensively in these factors.

MICE tourism in Can Tho is still not clear, only at the initial stage of organizing events and festivals in a basic way, not yet truly creating distinctive products like in Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City. Recognizing the limitations and challenges facing this type of tourism, the Tourism Department is gradually making some adjustments and orientations to create conditions for the development of MICE tourism. Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Director of the Can Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: "On the basis of proposals from the research group, opinions from travel agencies and tourism businesses, we have noted and considered feasible proposals to advise and recommend to the People's Committee leaders to create conditions for the development of MICE tourism in the coming time."