Coconut Tree - Soul in Ben Tre Tourism

Ben Tre has long been known as the "green coconut capital" because it has the largest area and production of coconut in Viet Nam. Ben Tre province has 72,000 ha (occupy nearly 50 % whole country's coconut area); with 200,000 households planting coconut, the output reaches nearly 800 million fruits per year, the value of coconut products occupies 20% industrial production and 25% Ben Tre province's export. Therefore, this tree has important position in production and life. In addition, Ben Tre province also defines coconut tree in tourism as homeland's particular.

According to the statistich from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of  Ben Tre province, in 2019, Ben Tre welcomed 1,882,025 visitors, up 20% to the same period  in which  international visitors reached 796,186 bouts and domestic visitors reached 1,085,839 bouts. Especially, when they come to Ben Tre, all their activities relate to coconut trees.

The cool shade of coconut charms soul of visitors

"Eco Tourism in Coconut Land" is Ben Tre province's particular.  Green tourism from coconut trees not only helps visitors close to nature but also saves energy and protects the environment.

In Ben Tre, tourism in isles retain its pristine character. When visiting coconut land, visitors are always interested in participating in many activities such as: boat rowing on palm canals; drinking coconut juice; learning how to grow, take care of and harvest coconuts; sitting on horse carriage,…Moreover, visitors can visit the "Cho Noi Dua" on Thom River where has many enterprises producing products from coconuts.

Visiting the craft villages in coconut land, visitors will have the opportunity to try many famous products and many dishes from coconut such as: My Long rice paper cake, Son Doc glutinous rice cake, coconut candy, coconut cake, coconut salad with shrimp and meat, rice in coconut, roasted shrimp,…

Tourist  are trying peeling coconut

Since 2000, Ben Tre has organized 9 times of the provincial Coconut Festival and 5 times of the national Coconut One. These festivals have not been only an opportunities to honor the value and importance of coconut trees but also promote the tourism brand "Sinh Thai Song Nuoc Xu Dua" (Waterways ecotourism in coconut land).

Opening the 5th Coconut Festival in Ben Tre province

Traveling to coconut land in Ben Tre has two models: farm tourism with many outdoor activities for students and ecotourism for domestic and foreign tourists. In addition, this place also has cultural, sports, cuisine tourisms,…and have been associated with coconut trees which have brought visitors a lot of experiences and helped tourism in Ben Tre province more and more developing.

In order to promote the potential of coconut trees in tourism, practical solutions are needed to combine coconut ecotourism with craft village tourism and historical relics such as: Special national relic Dong Khoi Ben Tre (Mo Cay Nam district); Nguyen Dinh Chieu Monument and Memorial Area (Ba Tri district), ... From there, Ben Tre Tourism links with the eastern provinces of  Mekong Delta (Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, ...) to create more diverse and attractive tours.

Author: Bao Tram

Translator: Tuong Vi

Source: http://dulich.bentre.gov.vn