Homestay tourists give thumbs-up to Mekong Delta farmers

The dim light from a candle on a wooden table placed in a fruit orchard was just enough for two people.

Two Australians, a man and a woman, burst out crying and hugged each other. Thanh, the owner of the orchard, runs up to them and asks what is wrong.

They say: “We feel sorry because we are leaving this lovely place tomorrow. We will miss this unusually peaceful place which exceeded our expectations.” This is a story that plays out often in the Mekong Delta where foreign tourists make homestay visits, living with local farmers.

They have the opportunity to live like their hosts, picking their own vegetables and cooking themselves. Thanh tells me the story about the two Australians, adding: “It was not easy to create attractive tours for foreign tourists. I had to read books and search the Internet to get information about lifestyles in different countries. We have to understand what they need, how they feel about this or that. We also need to understand the tastes of people of different ages.”

“My research was why I could create a place that impressed the two,” he explains. “They stayed in my house for a week to study the lifestyles of the people in the delta.” To communicate and take care of their guests better, many farmers have learnt English. For instance, Vo Thanh Dung, the owner of An Khanh Strawberry Farm in Ben Tre province's Chau Thanh District, has his name card written in English. It reads: “An Khanh Strawberry Garden - lunch, fruit, honey, traditional music, homestay.”

Dung says: “The tourism business is now quite different compared to the past. We will generate losses if we don't change our ways. We have already joined the World Trade Organization, so we must learn to complete.”

Another homestay host and owner of Phong Phu Fruit Orchard in the same district, Ly Tan Phat, boasts: “We farmers now have to learn English to communicate with foreign guests.

We also have a chance to get in touch with foreigners, exchange cultural features, and enlarge our knowledge of the world.”

Tran The Dung, manager of The He Tre (Young Generation) Travel Company which has been commissioned by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to study the tourism situation in the delta, says: “Farmers can vary what they have to offer every year.”

For Dung, a PhD student studying “culture on the farm,” the farmers' savvy method of doing business with tourists came as a surprise - the souvenirs they made seemed tacky and cheap, but foreign tourists liked them.

They even knew how to bid goodbye to the tourists in an impressive way - by going right up to the pier to see them off.

“Software” for tourists

If their farms and orchards are the “hardware,” the farmers also know how to design “software” to attract visitors.

The owner of Thoi Son 5 tourist area in Tien Giang Province grows various vegetables for tourists to pick and make their own soup.

Another farmer in Chau Thanh District, Phuc, has an area to keep bees.

Guests are treated to alcoholic drinks made from honey, and iced lemonade with honey.

He also teaches visitors how to raise bees and sells them honey.

Visitors to Tam Be's farm in Vinh Long Province's Tam Binh District can take part in activities like rowing, fishing, cutting banana leaves to make cakes, enjoying a drink made from fried rice, and sleeping on bamboo beds.

Dang Van Ro, owner of the trade-marked ‘green pomelo' in Ben Tre Province attracts tourists with his renowned variety which he grows without using insecticides.

Source ThanhnienNews