Evaluating Tourist Satisfaction with the Type of Ecotourism "Garden

Tan Phong Islet is associated with the specialty rambutan crop.

Located on the right bank of Cai Be floating market is Tan Phong islet, formerly Con Cu, belonging to Dinh Vien district, Long Ho palace, with a total area of 2,430 hectares. Tan Phong commune currently has 7 hamlets that are always fertilized by alluvium and have fresh water all year round. The favorable factors of nature have created a favorable position for Tan Phong in developing garden economy, especially famous for its large and sweet rambutan gardens. Currently, rambutan is the main tree contributing to changing the appearance of a rural area of the island. Of the total fruit garden area of Tan Phong of 1,382 hectares, the area for growing rambutan accounts for more than 1/3 (431 hectares), mainly longan rambutan, Java rambutan, Thai rambutan grown in 2 hamlets of Tan Luong A and Tan Buong B.

In particular, on the Doan Ngo Festival (the 5th day of the 5th lunar month), Tan Phong Islet has many people from all over the province and outside the province coming here not only to admire and enjoy the specialty of rambutan trees full of fruit but also to "bathe in alcohol", a very typical form of activity of the river islet that few places have.

2.3.6.7. Ngu Hiep Island Garden

This island is separated from the mainland of Cai Lay district by a small river in the North, called Nam Thon river. Ngu Hiep island is about 13 km long, the widest part is about 2 km, the further to the end of the island, the more fertile alluvial layers are added to the land. This island is favored by nature in many aspects such as fertile land, fresh water all year round, fresh air, ... favorable for fruit trees to grow. Therefore, Ngu Hiep island has become a large fruit growing area of the district with many types of fruit trees, but the most famous is the specialty durian, one of the main fruit trees of the province.

Ngu Hiep Islet Commune has 8 hamlets, with 3,459 households living on 1,471 hectares, including:

3,135 households grow durian, an area of over 1,257 hectares, with an output of 38,000 - 40,000 tons/year. When coming to Ngu Hiep, you will not only enjoy delicious fruit but also see the beautiful scenery with afternoon boats on the poetic river with the fragrant scent of durian. Meet gentle and friendly people when listening to the ringing bells of the church. Currently, Ngu Hiep Islet grows very well all kinds of Southern Fruits; including in the tour programs of travel agencies.

2.4. Assessing tourists' satisfaction with the "garden - river" ecotourism type in Tien Giang.

2.4.1. Characteristics of tourists coming to “garden – river” eco-tourism in Tien Giang according to survey results.

“ Garden – river ” tourism is a new type of tourism that has been exploited in Tien Giang. The routes with strengths in this field are: Thoi Son island eco-tourism area (Con Lan); and Cai Be tourist area. These are the two tourist destinations with the largest number of tourists participating in this type of tourism because they are associated with the Tien River system. According to statistics from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, up to 2012, the total number of tourists visiting the two tourist destinations above was 688,234 (accounting for 58.9%) of the total number of tourists visiting the whole province in 2012. Of which, Thoi Son island garden tourist destination welcomed about 594,112; Cai Be river garden tourist destination welcomed about

94,122 views.

Table 2.6 Tourists by region in the period 2007 - 2012

(Unit: Turn)

Year

2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
I. THOI SON ISLAND TOURIST AREA
+ Total visitors	375,950	406,521	502.030	575,910	554,735	594,112
- International	323,529	346,635	339,156	379.105	460,020	478,634
- Domestic	52,421	59,886	162,874	196,805	94,715	115,478
II. CAI BE TOURIST AREA
+ Total visitors	39,056	49,175	89,500	107,545	76,230	94,122
- International	32,260	38,348	71,600	93,734	64,980	64,058
- Domestic	6,796	10,827	17,900	13,811	11,250	30,064

Maybe you are interested!

(Source: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tien Giang)

2.4.1.1. Social characteristics of “garden – river” ecotourists

+ About gender characteristics

Table 2.7 Gender of tourists

SEX

SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
Male	177	60
Female	118	40
TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

According to descriptive statistics from SPSS 295 interview samples of tourists participating in garden ecotourism in Tien Giang. We see that the majority of tourists visiting are men, accounting for 60%, the rest are women, accounting for 40% of the total number of tourists surveyed.

Male Female

Chart 2.3. Gender chart of tourists

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

However, this difference is not significant, because we see that “garden – river” tourism is a type of tourism that is easily adapted to all types of tourists. In particular, the cool and fresh ecological conditions of the garden are ideal conditions to attract tourists.

+ About the education and occupation of tourists

Also according to descriptive statistics from SPSS 295 interview samples, most of the " garden - river " eco-tourists are guests with a fairly high level of education, the majority have a university degree or higher, accounting for 42.0%, followed by college and high school, accounting for 23.7% of the total interview sample, the rest have secondary and high school degrees, accounting for 16.0% and 18.3% of visitors refused to answer.

Table 2.8 Educational level and occupation of tourists

CRITERIA	SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
EDUCATION	College or higher	124	42.0
	College, high school	70	23.7
	Level 3	45	15.3
	Level 2	2	0.7
	Refuse to answer	54	18.3
	TOTAL	295	100.0
JOB	Student	103	34.9
JOB	Sales staff	102	34.6

Housewife	75	25.4
Teacher	9	3.1
Other professions	6	2.0
TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

Tourists who travel to the garden for ecotourism are usually educated tourists, as mentioned above, most of them are university and college graduates... among them are business staff in various fields and students account for a fairly high proportion. The proportion of students participating in tourism is 34.9%, business staff accounts for 34.6% of the total number of tourists surveyed, the rest are groups of tourists whose occupations are housewives (25.4%), teachers (3.1%) and some participating in other professional fields (2.0%).

Understanding the occupational characteristics of tourists visiting ecotourism in the garden is extremely important for tourism businesses. From there, it is possible to offer many forms of entertainment suitable for tourists and satisfy tourists when visiting the facility. Students are often a group of young tourists, so their hobby is to travel and explore with many fun activities that are collective and dynamic, the time to participate in tourism is often during summer vacation and holidays; sales staff in companies; teachers; ... are often middle-aged tourists, they often travel with friends and colleagues to entertain and relax after tiring working days, so they need a cool space, with light entertainment activities, the time to participate in tourism is often at the end of the year or on weekends. The target group of tourists are mostly housewives who like to shop, relax and enjoy the fresh air of the garden. This group often travels mainly with their families.

We see that each type of tourist has its own characteristics or in other words, different interests, but they all have a common goal of liking to participate in eco-tourism " garden - river " and liking simple, rustic activities... because it is closely related to the simple life of the people. Therefore, it is necessary to build and design tours to suit all types of tourists in order to satisfy tourists when participating in this tourism activity.

+ About tourist income

Table 2.9 Average income of tourists

INCOME	SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
<1,500,000 VND	108	36.6
1,500,000 - 3,000,000 VND	42	14.2
3,000,000 - 4,500,000 VND	143	48.5
4,500,000 - 6,500,000 VND	2	0.7
TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

According to the survey, tourists participating in tourism in Tien Giang have a fairly high and stable income. The income group from 3 million - 4.5 million VND/month accounts for the highest rate of 48.5%, mostly concentrated in tourists who work in business; next is the income group under 1.5 million VND/month, accounting for 36.6%, mostly students and recent graduates.

36.6

48.5

14.2

0.7

< 1.5 million VND

From 1.5 - 3.0 million VND

From 3.0 - 4.5 million VND

From 4.5 - 6.5 million VND

Chart 2.4. Chart of average income structure of tourists

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

The higher the income of tourists, the more likely they are to participate in tourism activities. On the other hand, understanding this, tourism businesses can create suitable tourism products, effective tourism services that are affordable for tourists to attract tourists and create satisfaction for tourists when they visit this tourist destination.

+ About age group structure

49.5

45.8

4.7

18 - 24 years old

25 - 40 years old

40 - 60 years old

Chart 2.5. Chart of tourist age structure

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

The total number of samples collected during the interview period was 295. Based on the above chart of the age structure of tourists, we can see that there are no samples under 18 years old and samples over 60 years old because these are two age groups that are not the subject of the author's interview; " garden - river " eco-tourists to Tien Giang are mainly between the ages of 25 - 40 years old, accounting for 45.8%, the ages of 18 - 24 years old account for 49.5% and the ages of 40 - 60 years old and above account for 0.7%. Thus, tourists traveling in this form have all age groups, so depending on each age group and the social needs of tourists, tourist facilities or destinations need to have suitable tourism products to satisfy tourists.

2.4.1.2. Habits of “garden – river” eco-tourists

Tourists coming to Tien Giang mainly participate in eco-tourism activities and the ideal type for this activity is “garden – river” tourism. According to the actual survey results, most tourists participating in this type of tourism have the same characteristics, the author would like to call it “tourist habits ”. Including the following habits:

+ First , it is the purpose of travel: According to descriptive statistics from SPSS 295 survey samples, the main purpose of tourists coming here is pure tourism or in other words, the main purpose of tourists coming to Tien Giang is mainly to visit the sights and participate in fun tourist activities.

Table 2.10. Tourists' travel purposes

PURPOSE OF TRAVEL

SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
Pure tourism	280	94.9
Visit relatives	1	.3

Study	14	4.7
TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

Tourists coming to Tien Giang for purely tourism purposes account for a very high proportion of 94.9% of the total number of tourists; the purpose of visiting relatives accounts for 0.3%; and the purpose of learning tourism experiences accounts for 4.7%. According to the survey results, most tourists coming to this type of river and garden ecology are for the first time, very few visitors come for the second time. This also shows that the tourism industry of Tien Giang in general and " garden - river " tourism in Tien Giang in particular are not attractive enough to retain, some activities still do not satisfy tourists when visiting here.

+ Second , the subjects who often travel with tourists and travel time:

Table 2.11. People who often travel with tourists

OBJECT

SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
Friend	116	39.3
Colleague	113	38.3
Family	66	22.4
TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

Through the above statistical table, we see that the subjects who often travel with tourists are mainly friends (39.3%); colleagues (38.3%) and family (22.4%). Therefore, the majority of them often choose to travel on weekends, holidays, or summer vacations to go sightseeing and relax together.

Table 2.12 Tourist travel time

TIME	SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
	Weekend	137	46.4
	Vacation	130	44.1
	Holiday	28	9.5
	TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – EFA factor analysis from 295 interview samples, 2013)

The time tourists often choose to travel is on weekends, accounting for 46.4%; during summer vacations, it is 44.1%; the remaining number of tourists often choose to travel on holidays, accounting for 9.5% of the total number of tourists surveyed.

+Thirdly , it is a source of tourism information for tourists: According to the questionnaire designed by the author and the results obtained are as follows:

Table 2.13 Sources of tourism information

TRAVEL CHANNEL	SAMPLE NUMBER	RATE (%)
	Newspapers, magazines	1	.3
	Television	24	8.1
	Friends, colleagues, relatives	147	49.8
	Travel agency	122	41.4
	Internet	1	.3
	TOTAL	295	100.0

(Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

Tourists know about the type of ecotourism " garden - river " in Tien Giang province mainly through information channels such as friends, colleagues, relatives; information from local travel agents; television; and some other sources of tourism services such as: newspapers, magazines; internet;...

0.3 0.3

8.1

41.4

49.8

Newspapers, magazines, TV

Friends, relatives

Travel agency

Internet

Figure 2.6. Structure chart of tourism information sources

( Source: SPSS – Descriptive statistics from 295 interview samples, 2013)

According to the chart, the analysis shows that tourists know about the type of eco-tourism " garden - river " in Tien Giang mostly from information sources from friends and colleagues.

Evaluating Tourist Satisfaction with the Type of Ecotourism "Garden - River" in Tien Giang.

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