Mekong Delta hotels reserve rooms online

VietNamNet Bridge – Booking a hotel in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region is set to become easier with the launch of three new websites.

Phu Quoc Island.

The new hotel booking sites aim to lure more foreign tourists to the Mekong Delta region destinations in Can Tho Province, Chau Doc in southern An Giang Province and Phu Quoc Island, part of southern Kien Giang Province.

The websites also aim to raise the quality of customer service at hotels, many of which lack staff with English skills, which can make even the simplest of bookings a struggle for some foreign tourists.

Foreign visitors will now be able to make online bookings at hotels participating in the initiative, which was carried out with the help of assistance from a German government group, called Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Worldhotel-link.com (WHL) and Mekong Tours as well as chamber of commerce and industry in Can Tho City and the tourism departments of An Giang and Kien Giang provinces.

Via the three sites, local accommodation providers will have a wide distribution channel available to them in order to better market their products to international travellers.

WHL was introduced to various hoteliers and accommodation providers in the Mekong Delta provinces during a series of workshops organised by GTZ, Can Tho's chamber of commerce and local departments of tourism in mid-2006.

A number of potential local marketplace operators were identified as a result of the workshops, and after extensive interviews, the Mekong Tours Corporation was considered to be the most suitable for the job.

Since being selected, Mekong Tours has worked in close consultation with WHL and GTZ on developing content for the new sites, which were launched in January.

GTZ's technical advisor, Thomas Finkel, said the three sites were a great initiative for tourism within the Mekong Delta region.

I think it fits very well with GTZ'S approach to the promotion of the tourism sector in the region, said Finkel.

We are currently supporting local partners in enhancing linkages among different stakeholders in tourism in the Mekong Delta.

Fostering tourism is important for the region, which is trying to diversify its economic structure towards a more industry and services-based economy.

The next step in the initiative is to establish the Mekong Tourism Association, in order to better co-ordinate promotion of the tourism industry across the whole Mekong Delta region.

Travellers can visit the websites at www.hotels-phuquoc.com; www.hotels-chaudoc.com and www.hotels-cantho.com www.hotels-cantho.com.

(Source: Viet Nam News)

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