Cần Thơ, the biggest city in Việt Nam's Mekong Delta, is having an honest conversation about its tourism. The city has the ingredients — a famous floating market, river culture and southern Vietnamese traditions — but visitors aren't staying long or arriving in the numbers hoped for. At a recent meeting, officials and travel businesses lined up the problems and pitched fixes.
Air links are the sorest point. Cần Thơ has run international routes to Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan, plus domestic flights to Đà Lạt, Nha Trang, Vinh, Thanh Hóa and Hải Phòng, but loads have disappointed. Thailand was the standout: Vietravel Cần Thơ sent nearly 5,000 outbound travellers abroad in 2024, and 58% of them chose Thailand. By 2025, that Thai figure had dropped to around a fifth of the previous year, and Thai arrivals into Cần Thơ stayed thin. Domestic routes to Vinh, Hải Phòng and Thanh Hóa hold up thanks to business and family travellers, but leisure demand is weak.
The consensus among operators: a route only survives if passengers flow both ways. Ideas on the table include a new Cần Thơ–China service, keeping Đà Lạt flights going, more frequency and airlines on the Đà Nẵng and Hà Nội routes (so travellers stop detouring through HCM City), and charter flights to test demand for China and Singapore before committing to scheduled services.
Products are the second headache. Cantho Eco Resort reports domestic guests make up about 90% of bookings — mostly from Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng, HCM City and the Delta — yet northern arrivals have dropped, blamed on high airfares and a sense that the city's offerings have gone stale. Some traditional European markets are also fading. Businesses want Cái Răng Floating Market revived, more night-time activity around Ninh Kiều Wharf, early-morning and evening tour routes, and even an 'Old Southern Việt Nam Street' with rickshaws and vintage services.
The city is responding. Plans include investment zones for the floating market, artistic lighting on the bridges between Ninh Kiều and Cái Răng, a new night-time show, and joint itineraries linking Cần Thơ with An Giang, Vĩnh Long and Cà Mau. Late 2026 brings a River Culture Festival and an International Rice Industry Festival.
For travellers, this is a good moment to visit: the classic experiences are still there and arguably better before crowds arrive. Come for dawn at Cái Răng by boat, evenings along Ninh Kiều Wharf, and use Cần Thơ as a base for Mekong Delta loops south towards Cà Mau.
