The development of Cai Rang floating market tourism in Can Tho city, Vietnam: From policy to practice

Nguyen Thi Huynh Phuong *

* Corresponding author (nthphuong@ctu.edu.vn)

Article Sidebar

Full Text: PDF

Received: 25 Oct 2015
Revised: 11 Feb 2016
Accepted: 30 Mar 2017
Published: 31 Mar 2017
DOI: 10.22144/ctu.jen.2017.006
Views
743
Downloads
259
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
How to Cite
Nguyen, T. H. P. (2017). The development of Cai Rang floating market tourism in Can Tho city, Vietnam: From policy to practice. CTU Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development , (05), 47-58. https://doi.org/10.22144/ctu.jen.2017.006
Issue
No. 05 (2017)

Main Article Content

Abstract

In recent years, floating market tourism has been regarded as a unique and attractive form of tourism in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. It combines eco-tourism together with cultural and community-based tourism to reach the ultimate goal of sustainable development. Floating markets can be looked upon as part of the river culture and eco-tourism of Vietnam rather than simply as a tourist attraction, as they play an important part in the river - based culture of Southeast Asia. There are approximately eleven floating markets in the Mekong Delta, yet Cai Rang attracts more visitors than those in the surrounding provinces. The reason might be due to the advantages the market possesses: geographical location, size, infrastructure and material, technical basis for tourism, services, and connection with other tourist attractions. Therefore, Can Tho city has increasingly received the interest from the government as seen through a number of documents for tourism development. This article aims to study, based on documentary, quantitative and qualitative research, the development of Cai Rang floating market tourism in Can Tho city. It is proposed that Vietnam’s policy on tourism has enabled favorable factors for the development of floating market in the Mekong Delta such as economic development plans, strategic orientations and specific objectives. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between policy and practice and this is a big challenge for the development of Cai Rang floating market tourism.
Keywords: Cai Rang floating market, Mekong Delta, tourism

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

References

Can Tho DOCST, 2014a. Can Tho tourism development plan to 2020 and vision to 2030. Document for internal circulation, 28 pages (in Vietnamese).

Can Tho DOCST, 2014b. Data on total tourist arrivals and revenue from tourism in Can Tho city from 2004 to 2013. Document for internal circulation (in Vietnamese).

Chen Y., Zhang H., Qiu L., 2012. A Review on Tourist Satisfaction of Tourism Destinations. Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-32054-5_83, 593 - 604.

Chotiwan, S., 2006. Impact of Talingchan floating market on Khlong Chakphra Community, Khlong Chakphra sub-district, Talingchan District, Bangkok. Master thesis. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Coban, 2012. The Effects of the Image of Destination on Tourist Satisfaction and Loyalty: The Case of Cappadocia. Eupropean Journal of Social Sciences, 29(2): 124-136.

Hai, L.T.D., Giang, N.H., 2011. The analysis of factors affecting tourists’ satisfaction with service quality in Kien Giang Province. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 19b: 85 – 96 (in Vietnamese).

Harry, N.B., Deborah, A.B., 2012. Analyzing Likert Data. Journal of Extensive. 50(2), atfile:///F:/12.%20TAP%20CHI%20DHCT/GUI%20BAI_CAI%20RANG%20FM%20_%20XB%20ROI/JOE_v50_2tt2.pdf

Hung, N., 2009. Floating markets in Mekong Delta. Youth Publishing House. Ho Chi Minh city, 135 pages.

Mekong Tourism Association, 2014. Data on total tourist arrivals and revenue from tourism in Mekong Delta from 2010 to 2013. Document for internal circulation (in Vietnamese).

Nhan, N.T., 2011. Floating market culture in tourism development in the Mekong River Delta. Journal of Vietnam Social Sciences. 3: 97-107 (in Vietnamese).

Nhan, N.T., Canh, D.N., Phuong, N.T.H., 2014. Evaluating the satisfaction level of international visitors to floating market tourism at Can Tho city and surroundings. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 31: 31-38 (in Vietnamese).

Parasuraman A., Zeithaml V., Berry L., 1988. SERVQUAL: A Multiple - Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, 64 (1): 12 - 40.

Phuc, N. T., 2010. Surveying tourists's satisfaction on eco-tourism in Phong Nha - Ke Bang, Quang Binh province. Journal of Hue University, 60: 211-219 (in Vietnamese).

Piemputthakul, P., 1993. Evolution of the community and Floating Market of Damnoen Saduak, Changwat Ratchaburi. Master thesis. Mahidol University. Bangkok, Thailand.

Rodríguez Del Bosque I., San Martín H., 2008. TOURIST SATISFACTION A Cognitive - Affective Model. Annals of Tourism Research, 35 (2): 551 - 573.

Srivongcharoen, K., 2001. Readiness of local people for sustainable tourism development: A case study of ThaKha floating market, Tambon Tha Kha, Amphawa district in Samut Songkhram province. Master thesis. Mahidol University. Bangkok, Thailand.

Thanh, D.C., Nhung, P.L.H., Dung, T.Q., 2011. Evaluating domestic tourists's satisfaction level on tourism in Soc Trang province. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 20(a), 199-209 (in Vietnamese).

Thi, V.L.H., The, N.B., 2010. Applying HOLSAT model to evaluate international tourists' satisfaction: A casy study in Da Nang city, Vietnam. The seventh conference of students' scientific research, Da Nang University, 87-93 (in Vietnamese).

Tram, H.B., 2011. The Cai Rang Floating Market, Vietnam: Towards Pro-Poor Tourism? Master thesis. Auckland University. New Zealand.

Tribe J., Snaith, T., 1998. From SERVQUAL to HOLSAT: holiday satisfaction in Varadero, Cuba. Tourism Management, 19 (1): 25 - 34.

Trong, H., Ngoc, C.N.M., 2008. Analyzing research data with SPSS, Part 1 and Part 2. Hong Duc Publisher, 320 pages (in Vietnamese).

Valle, P.O.D., Silva, J.A., Mendes, J., Guerreiro, M., 2006. Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty intention: A Structural and Categorical Analysis. Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, 1(1): 26-44.

Xe, D.V., 2009. The role of the floating market for the development of socio - economy in Mekong Delta. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 12: 193 – 201 (in Vietnamese).

Youramazingplaces, 2014. Six Asian floating markets, accessed on September 15, 2014, at http://www.youramazingplaces.com/6-asian-floating-markets/.