Thai experts support sustainable community-based tourism development in Ben Tre
The Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), under the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, on October 15 officially handed over a project on sustainable coastal community development through ecotourism and the application of the sufficiency economy philosophy to Binh Dai district in Vietnam’s southern province of Ben Tre.
Piloted in 2024, then maintained and expanded in the following years, the project involves five local tourism entities in the district, which have engaged in training and hands-on experiences in Thailand. The participants have gradually enhanced their infrastructure and service quality, ultimately developing new products and improving existing ones.
At the handover ceremony, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, Deputy Director of the Ben Tre Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, highlighted that the project not only boosts the quality of tourism human resources but also creates distinctive offerings, generates new employment opportunities, and stimulates local economic growth. The province is committed to implementing it effectively and transparently, ensuring community benefits while preserving tourism resources and local cultural values.
She expressed her confidence that the cooperation would open new doors for Ben Tre and elevate its status on both the national and global tourism maps. Going forward, Thai institutions and educational establishments will further accompany the Vietnamese locality in areas like tourism-related digital transformation, green transition, branding, environmental protection, and promotion, to contribute to the sustainable growth of the local sector.
On October 14 and 15, experts from the TICA and Burapha University of Thailand visited Binh Dai to assess the project’s progress and provide supplementary tourism training, equipping local organisations, individuals, and communities with essential skills and knowledge to enhance their professionalism in service delivery.
