Conditions for Tourism Development in Ca Mau Province

To avoid paying a heavy price, they need to have appropriate policies to implement. For example, the issue of how to use plastic bags; how to comply with environmental regulations for sea tourism, etc. In addition, the tourism industry also needs to review all current plans to make reasonable adjustments. [15].

Chapter 1 Summary

Sustainable development is an inevitable trend in all fields. Sustainable tourism is a part of sustainable development. In fact, we do not only think, do, and serve the present life to satisfy all needs and enjoy the greatest benefits, but forget about the future of our descendants, whether they still have resources to exploit, whether they can enjoy the good things or have to bear the consequences that we have left behind. Therefore, sustainable development becomes an extremely valuable message calling on each of us, regardless of our position or industry, to pay attention to the benefits for both the present and the future. Sustainable tourism development, although still quite new, has great scientific and practical value because people today are very interested in the need to enjoy and explore the world's landscapes, in addition to the purpose of traveling for fun and stress relief, but also for health benefits or work through many types of tourism. Therefore, sustainable tourism development is an important strategy in the development of this smokeless industry in most countries in the world, including Vietnam. Given this general trend and the shortcomings that Ca Mau tourism industry has encountered in recent years, sustainable tourism development is a goal that the province needs to aim for.

CHAPTER 2: CURRENT STATUS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CA MAU PROVINCE

Maybe you are interested!

2.1. Overview of Ca Mau province

Before 1975, Ca Mau province was called An Xuyen province. After the country's reunification, Ca Mau (An Xuyen) and Bac Lieu provinces were merged into Minh Hai province. The 10th session of the 9th National Assembly (November 6, 1996) approved the separation of Minh Hai province into two provinces: Ca Mau and Bac Lieu, and the separation was implemented from January 1, 1997.

2.1.1. Geographical location and territory

Ca Mau is the southernmost province of the country, re-established on January 1, 1997, separated from Minh Hai province. Ca Mau province has the following geographical coordinates: The southernmost point has coordinates of about 80 30 ' North latitude, belonging to Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district. The northernmost point has coordinates of about 90 10 ' North latitude, belonging to Tan Bang commune, Thoi Binh district. The westernmost point has coordinates of about 1040 43 ' East longitude, belonging to Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district. The easternmost point has coordinates of about 1050 25' East longitude , belonging to Tan Thuan commune, Dam Doi district.

Ca Mau province has three sides bordering the sea: the East borders the East Sea, the South and West borders the Gulf of Thailand. The North of Ca Mau borders the two provinces of Bac Lieu and Kien Giang. It is 370 km from Ho Chi Minh City.

Located in the center of Southeast Asia, the end point of National Highway 1A and a well-developed waterway transport system, Ca Mau has favorable conditions for economic exchange and cooperation with regions across the country and countries in the region. Ca Mau province is also located in the Southern economic corridor of the "Extended Mekong Subregion Cooperation Program" (GMS), with the backbone traffic axis from Ha Tien (Xa Xia Border Gate) - National Highway 63 - Ca Mau - Nam Can - Dat Mui, in which Ca Mau Cape is the destination of this traffic route. From there, Ca Mau opens up the possibilities for economic development in general and tourism development in general. In particular, the ability to connect with neighboring areas in tourism development is very large.

Ca Mau territory has a characteristic “V” shape, consisting of two parts: the mainland and the vast sovereign sea area. On the mainland, Ca Mau has a total natural area of about 5,329 km 2 (2005), equal to 13.1% of the Mekong Delta area, accounting for 1.58% of the country's area. The total length of the coastline is up to 254 km, of which the section bordering the East Sea is

106km, the remaining 148km bordering the Gulf of Thailand. In the Ca Mau sea, there are also many islands such as Hon Da Bac (Tran Van Thoi), Hon Chuoi, Hon Buon (Phu Tan) in the West Sea; Hon Khoai (Ngoc Hien) in the East Sea. The Hon Khoai island cluster alone has the largest area (about 5km 2 ), about 18km from the mainland. This island cluster includes 4 small islands: Doi Moi, Hon Sao, Hon Go and the largest island is Hon Khoai.

2.1.2. Natural characteristics

+ Terrain: Because it is located in a part of the Mekong Delta, the terrain of Ca Mau province generally has the basic features of the whole region's terrain such as low (average 0.5-1m above sea level), flat, insignificant slope (about 1cm/km) and many rivers and canals (about 1-2km/km 2 ). The natural area of the province is often flooded during the rainy season.

+ Climate: The basic characteristic of Ca Mau's climate is high and stable temperature, with almost no seasonal temperature differentiation. Meanwhile, the rainfall regime has a clear seasonal differentiation corresponding to two opposite seasons: the rainy season accounts for 90% of the total annual rainfall while the dry season often experiences drought and water shortages. Ca Mau's climate is also strongly influenced by the Asian monsoon regime and this is the decisive factor in the seasonal rainfall characteristics of the province. The average annual temperature of the province is about 26.5 0 C, at an average level compared to the entire Mekong Delta. The annual temperature fluctuation amplitude is about more than 2 0 C.

+ Hydrology and oceanography: With more than 250 km of coastline and a special geographical location, Ca Mau is the only province in our country that is influenced by two different tidal regimes: semi-diurnal tides in the East Sea and irregular diurnal tides in the West Sea. The tidal amplitude in the East Sea is relatively large: 3.0m to 3.5m on high tide days and 1.8 to 2.2m on low tide days.

Ca Mau's river system is quite dense. Besides some large rivers such as Tam Giang, Bay Hap, Ganh Hao, Song Doc, Trem... Ca Mau also shares the characteristics of the Mekong Delta region, which is a dense network of canals, very convenient for developing waterway transportation. In the whole province of Ca Mau, there are 11 large rivers with a total length of 416km. The largest of these is the Tam Giang (Cai Lon) River, 58km long, 20m deep, and the smallest is the Bach Nguu River, 30km long...

The hydrological regime of the river and canal systems here is directly affected.

of tides all year round due to the low terrain and many river mouths leading to the sea. Bo De mouth (Tam Giang river), Bay Hap mouth (Bay Hap river), Ong Doc mouth (Doc river) are the widest river mouths here (500m), Ganh Hao river mouth is 300m wide... Most of the rivers in Ca Mau province flow into the sea according to the diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal regime. Outside the river mouths, the influence of the tide is strong, this influence gradually decreases as we go deeper inland.

Groundwater resources in Ca Mau province are quite abundant with 7 aquifers. Of which, five aquifers from level 2 to level 6 are soft aquifers that are not saline. The total amount of exploited groundwater is about 170,000 m3 / day and night, equal to about 1/30 of the potential reserve.

+ Sea and islands: The length of Ca Mau's coastline accounts for 7.8% of the country's coastline, including 107 km of the East Sea coastline and 147 km of the West Sea coastline. The province's sea area is over

71,000 km2 , bordering the seas of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, is the center

of the international waters in Southeast Asia. The Ca Mau sea area has the islands of Hon Da Bac (Tran Van Thoi district), Hon Chuoi, Hon Buong (Cai Nuoc district), belonging to the West Sea; Hon Khoai (Ngoc Hien district) belonging to the East Sea. Hon Khoai is a cluster of 4 islands: Doi Moi, Hon Sao, Hon Go and the largest is Hon Khoai island. The cluster of islands is about 18 km from the mainland, with an area of approximately 5 km 2 . These islands have an important strategic position, are a bridge to exploit the marine economy and are a forward support point to protect the Fatherland. At the same time, these are all ideal tourist destinations for visitors when coming to the last strip of land of the Fatherland.

In addition to the island resources, the eco-tourism complex of Ca Mau Cape - Khai Long Beach - Ong Trang Seaport is also a popular tourist destination. Located to the southeast of Ca Mau Cape, Khai Long Beach has a fine sandbank stretching about 16 km, 1 - 2 km wide from the shore. Ca Mau alluvial plain is formed by the tides of the East Sea and the West Sea, and is advancing rapidly into the sea every year. Along with the alluvial process, mangrove forests are naturally formed, with extremely rich aquatic resources. Ong Trang Nature Reserve is located in the world's Ramsar site, very suitable for scientific research activities and learning about typical coastal wetland ecosystems.

+ Biology: With an area of 71,000 km2 of sea and continental shelf under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Vietnam managed by the province, along with more than 100,000 hectares of forest with high biodiversity.

Ca Mau forests are mainly coastal mangrove forests of special importance in our country today. The mangrove forest area in Ca Mau accounts for 77% of the total mangrove forest area.

salinity in the Mekong Delta. Besides mangrove forests, Ca Mau also has a large area (about 35 hectares) of Melaleuca forests growing on acid sulfate soil in the districts of U Minh, Tran Van Thoi and Thoi Binh.

2.1.3. Socio-economic characteristics

Ca Mau province has 9 administrative units. Of which, Ca Mau city is a type 3 city, the administrative, economic and cultural center of the whole province. Since implementing the open economic policy, with the advantages of the locality, Ca Mau has achieved a stable high economic growth rate, especially with the formation of the gas - electricity - fertilizer cluster. In the period of 1996-2005, the average annual GDP growth rate reached 9.57%, of which the period of 2001-2007 reached over 12.45%/year. GDP in 2008 increased over 13% compared to 2007. GDP growth rate in 2009 was 11.52%, GDP value reached 19,150 billion VND. GDP per capita reached over 1,000 USD/year, by 2011 it reached 1,120 USD/person/year. The economic structure has undergone strong changes with the proportion of industry - construction and services increasing. Ca Mau's economic growth rate is continuously higher than the national average and is a typical bright spot in the region's socio-economic development.

Many construction investment projects are under construction such as: car routes to commune centers, construction of hospitals, schools, irrigation, urban infrastructure, etc. Bridge construction according to the project to build 1,588 rural traffic bridges has been completed and 604 bridges have been put into use. Some central investment projects in the area have been completed and put into use or have been accelerated such as: Bridge on National Highway 1A section Dam Cung - Nam Can, Ganh Hao 2 bridge, Ca Mau fertilizer factory, especially the Quan Lo - Phung Hiep route to shorten the journey from Ca Mau to Can Tho.

According to the data of the Steering Committee for the 2009 Population and Housing Census, the preliminary results of Ca Mau province announced 1,205,108 people. By early 2011, the population of Ca Mau was nearly 1,214,900 people. The population density of Ca Mau is 229 people/km2, ranking 8th out of 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta region. After 10 years, the population of the province increased by about 86,278 people. The urban population is 247,087 people, accounting for 20.50%. The female ratio is 49.63% with 598,058 people, of which urban women account for 51.04% of the total urban population, rural women account for 49.26% of the total rural population.

Activities in the fields of culture, society, and environmental protection have received attention, so there have been positive changes. Many socialization programs in education, training, health, culture, and sports have been implemented.

Sports are being promoted, attracting economic sectors and people to participate. Ca Mau province organized the "Cultural - Tourism Week of the Cape", organized the Workshop "Conserving the values of biosphere reserves and supporting coastal residents of Ca Mau Cape in the face of climate change", announced the Ca Mau Cape World Biosphere Reserve, ... In the future, Ca Mau will promise to bring many changes in terms of economy - culture - society to match the inherent potential of the province.

2.2. Conditions for tourism development in Ca Mau province

2.2.1. Tourism resources

2.2.1.1. Natural tourism resources

The natural conditions here combine to create Ca Mau with rich natural tourism resources. However, in order for these resources to be fully exploited to their inherent potential, it requires authorities at all levels to have more active measures, from investing in effectively exploiting tourist spots and routes to investing in tourism staff. At the same time, the province must have a plan to forecast and overcome some of the negative impacts of natural conditions on tourism activities.

Terrain: If in the past, the terrain of Ca Mau as well as the terrain of the entire Mekong Delta region was affected by two groups of factors: rivers and seas, the current terrain of Ca Mau is mostly affected by the group of sea factors. This is quite different from many other localities such as Can Tho, An Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Tien Giang, ... because in most of these places, the current terrain is mainly affected by the group of river factors with the main alluvial process while in Ca Mau, the location is far from the Tien and Hau rivers, so the impact of alluvial deposition as well as the influence of the group of river factors is not significant, but instead, the impact of the group of sea factors is more evident. The terrain is mainly a coastal plain, with many rivers and canals, creating many soil groups such as: alum, salinity, saline alum, peat, alluvial ground... Each soil group is suitable for different types of crops, creating diverse ecosystems that effectively serve tourism activities. Every year, the alluvial land of Ca Mau Cape encroaches on the sea by more than 50 m, creating endless green forests. Ca Mau Cape National Park is the fifth Ramsar site in Vietnam to be recognized by the World Environment Organization as the 2,088th new Ramsar site in the world. Before that, there were the Ramsar sites of Xuan Thuy National Park (Nam Dinh), Bau Sau in Cat Tien National Park (Dong Nai), Ba Be Lake in Bac Kan province and Tram Chim National Park (Dong Thap). This is a coastal mangrove area, although not

The park is diverse in species but has its own characteristics in terms of fauna and flora. The park has 93 species of birds, 26 species of mammals, 43 species of reptiles, 9 species of amphibians, 233 species of aquatic animals. Among them are many rare species such as grey-legged pelicans, Chinese white storks, geese, otters, black-backed box turtles, large spotted civets, toothed turtles, three-ridged turtles, giant neck turtles, Southern soft-shell turtles... These advantages have created more potential for Ca Mau tourism to attract tourists from all over the world.

The province has 254 km of coastline, accounting for 7.8% of the country's coastline. Of which, 107 km is the East Sea coastline and 147 km is the West Sea coastline (Gulf of Thailand). Ca Mau's sea area has a number of near-shore island clusters such as Hon Khoai island cluster, Hon Chuoi island cluster and Da Bac island, etc., which have important strategic positions. These islands not only play a role as a bridge to exploit the marine economy but also have invaluable potential in exploiting and developing tourism, especially eco-tourism for Ca Mau.

Climate: Ca Mau has a subequatorial tropical monsoon climate with a high average annual temperature. Ca Mau has a climate divided into two distinct rainy and dry seasons. Every year, the rainy season lasts about 7 months from May to November and the dry season lasts 5 months from December to April of the following year. The total annual rainfall here is approximately 2,400 mm and is mainly concentrated during the rainy season (accounting for about 90% of the annual rainfall). It can be seen that Ca Mau has a stable climate that is very favorable for tourism exploitation because it has a long dry season, clear skies, creating favorable conditions for road and air traffic, stimulating the demand for sightseeing and relaxation for tourists. However, the differentiation of seasons has significantly affected tourism activities, especially tourist areas in the rainy season.

Hydrological system: Ca Mau borders two seas: the East Sea and the West Sea (Gulf of Thailand). This makes the province unique compared to other localities: every day you can watch the sun "rise" and "set" twice on the sea. The most characteristic feature of Ca Mau's sea is that it is quite shallow, the beach is gentle, the average salinity is about 34 o / oo and it is very rich in biological resources.

The western side borders the Gulf of Thailand with a less dissected coastline, approximately 145 km long.

km, running almost straight in the north-south direction and having many large river mouths such as: Hoi mouth (U Minh), Ong Doc mouth (Tran Van Thoi), My Binh (Phu Tan), Bay Hap (Nam Can), Ong Trang (Ngoc Hien),... Particularly from Bay Hap mouth to Dat Mui, the coastline is quite winding, strongly divided by the widening of the river mouth, creating coastal bays. This is also a section of the coastline that is accreting very quickly. Tourists can let their souls follow the waves when participating in a canoe tour running along the coast.

The southeast and south sides are adjacent to the East Sea with a 106km long coastline. Along the coast, there are many rivers and streams flowing into many wide and deep estuaries such as Ganh Hao estuary (Dam Doi), Ho Gui estuary (Nam Can), Bo De estuary (Ngoc Hien), etc. In general, both seas of Ca Mau have irregular tidal regimes, but compared to the East Sea, the West Sea has a smaller tidal amplitude, averaging only about 1m. However, both seas have fishing grounds with very rich seafood reserves, especially the Mui Ca Mau alluvial fishing ground, which is one of the largest shrimp fishing grounds in the country, contributing to the diversity of tourism products. Ca Mau has a fairly dense river system, creating favorable conditions for the tourism industry to develop river tourism, combining boating with enjoying the wild beauty.

Flora and fauna: Mangrove forests and Melaleuca forests in Ca Mau have the highest biological productivity of all natural forests, not only having high economic value, protection, and environmental protection but also having invaluable potential for developing ecotourism for Ca Mau land.

Ca Mau forest is a type of flooded forest including mangrove forests distributed along the coast and concentrated in Ngoc Hien district; brackish flooded forests are mainly located deep inland in U Minh, Tran Van Thoi, Thoi Binh districts. Ca Mau forest ecosystem has many rare species of flora and fauna, high biological productivity, is important for nature conservation, has scientific research value and has the meaning of balancing the ecological environment for the sustainable development of the whole region.

The current mangrove ecosystem covers an area of 62,000 hectares, accounting for 2/3 of the mangrove forests in the Mekong Delta, playing a role in developing aquaculture and balancing coastal ecology, preserving the biodiversity of coastal mangrove forests. In the mangrove forest, there are 64 plant species, the dominant components are mangroves, parrots, mam, and da; in terms of animals, there are currently 12 mammal species, 12 reptile species, 8 frog species, 67 bird species, 25 shrimp species, and 258 saltwater fish species. Currently, many bird species are concentrated in many large bird sanctuaries such as Dam Doi bird sanctuary, Cai Nuoc bird sanctuary, and bird sanctuary in Ca Mau city.

The Melaleuca forest ecosystem covers an area of 34,600 hectares, playing an important role as a buffer zone for stabilizing soil, hydrology, raising freshwater shrimp and fish, bees, pythons, deer, wild boars, etc. and has the effect of regulating the climate, preserving the biodiversity of inland flooded forests. Melaleuca forests are absolutely dominant, under the forest canopy there are many species of vines and other small trees. Animals such as deer, wild boars, monkeys, weasels, etc. Reptiles such as pythons, snakes, turtles, bamboo (pangolins), etc. There are 60 species of freshwater and brackish water fish. In particular, Melaleuca forests have many honey bees and are exploited every year.

Comment