Ben Tre Tourism: Coconut's a glimpse of the city

With a rich history of more than 100 years, Ben Tre city has witnessed many ups and downs through periods that have been close-knit to generations of Coconut Land. Today, Ben Tre city’s appearance has changed in the direction of modern civilization but it still retains its simple and rustic features. Ben Tre has become a safe, friendly and attractive tourist destination, especially for international tourists.

On February 13, 2019, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 174 to recognize Ben Tre city as a grade-II city belonging to Ben Tre province. This is a great joy for the Communist Party, local authoritiy and the people in the province, in general, and those in Ben Tre city in particular. It is the economic, cultural and social center of the province, located on the Bao island, including Giong Trom, Ba Tri and Ben Tre city with an area of 71.11 km².

According to statistics, the number of tourists visiting Ben Tre city is increasing and gradually gaining the affection of many domestic and foreign tourists from the its safety, the freshness of its landscape, the environment, enthusiasm, and the friendly and hospitable people of Coconut Land. In 2017, tourism in Ben Tre city attracted 323,750 visitors and the total revenue from tourists was nearly 264,250 billion VND; the number of passengers increased by 21% per year on average; average revenue increase of 25% / year compared to the same period last year. In 2019, the number of visitors to Ben Tre city reached 409,312 visitors and the total revenue from tourists was nearly 334 billion. This has been very impressive figure and shown that the tourism potential in Ben Tre city is plentifu.

The 3-star Viet - Uc Hotel in Ben Tre (Photo: XTDLBT)

Currently, Ben Tre city has more than 30 accommodation establishments, including one, 04-star hotel (Coconut hotel - Ben Tre Riverside Resort), two, 03-star hotels (Ham Luong, Viet - Uc hotel); three, 01-star hotels (Dai An, Sao Mai and Oasis Kiwi hotel) and many homestays with close and harmonious style (Muoi No, Ba Danh, Duyen Que, Nguyet Que, ...) They make up 1/3 of total number of accommodation establishments in the whole province of Ben Tre today.

At the same time, Ben Tre city is also promoting the development of a ecotourism in the land of Coconut with many interesting experience activities such as boating, fish catching, ... Typically, the famous tourist destinations such as Lan Vuong, Phu An Khang, Ha Thao, Vuon Xanh, ... have attracted a lot of tourists. 

Currently, Tourists from Europe and North America always choose Ben Tre city in particular and Ben Tre province in general as a safe and quality destination in their travel itineraries tour to be known as “The ecoutourism of Coconut Land” 

Slapping ditches for fishing (Photo: PAK)

Traveling to Ben Tre city, besides the ecotourism, visitors will also have the opportunity to experience many other types such as spiritual tourism through sightseeing and worshiping at temples with long standing history (Vien Minh pagoda, Vien Giac pagoda, Bach Van pagoda, Phu Tu temple and ancient white apricot tree (recognized as a national heritage tree). 

Tourists can visit traditional craft villages (mat weaving, coconut candy processing village, coconut handicraft, etc.) and visit cultural and historical architectural works (Dong Khoi monument, Tran Van On monument, Ben Tre museum - relics and residence of the hero of the Revolutionary armed forces Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao (national monument), victory monument on the Ben Tre river at Hoang Lam park, ... 

Truc Giang Lake (Photo: Collection)

Tourism of Ben Tre city also attracts visitors through wonderful dishes. Visitors can easily enjoy delicacies such as cooking rice in coconut, roested shrimp with coconut milk, fried elephant - ear, fish hotpot, ... at many local of restaurants. Especially coconut sprout salad and cooking rice in coconut with roasted shrimp with coconut milk are 02 of the top 100 delicious dishes in Vietnam. 

In addition, domestic and foreign tourists can buy a lot of specialties here as gifts for family and friends such as green skin pomelo - a fruit that has been granted by the national office of intellectual property of Vietnam since 2005. Ben Tre green skin pomelo and green siam coconuts have also been granted the certificate of geographical indications by the national office of intellectual property since 2018. Coconut cakes, coconut candy, cosmetics from coconut, handicrafts made of coconut of Ben Tre are sold at many markets or tourist stops. Currently, the situation of covid-19 epidemic has seriously affected many sectors of the economy including tourism. In Ben Tre city - in particular and Ben Tre province - in general, hotels, resorts, tourist attractions, restaurants, bars, ...always actively implement many measures to prevent and control epidemic to ensure safety for locals and visitors. According to the Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre, Mr. Truong Quoc Phong, “All the natural features as well as the strict epidemic prevention solutions of our country are the basis for proving Vietnamese tourism, including Ben Tre” is a safe destination for visitors. Ben Tre with the featured products of eco-tourism and association with organic agriculture is a reliable choice of travelers. The tourism industry together with tourism business, join together in implementing safe epidemic prevention solutions and stimulus solutions to create trust for tourists."

Therefore, the tourist destinations and businesses in Ben Tre have simultaneously implemented many programs to stimulate and promote, tourism, ... Hope, tourism in Ben Tre city in particular and province in general will grow more and more after the epidemic season because it is always a safe and quality destination for domestic and foreign tourists./.

Author: Tuong Vi

Translator: Phuong Thy