On August 29-30, 2026, Mekong Smile worked with the Can Tho City Tourism Association to organize a Fam Trip welcoming international travel partners to Can Tho for two days of destination exploration, product discovery and tourism networking.
Connected with ITE HCMC 2026, the program brought together travel businesses working with international visitors to Vietnam, including partners from the United States, France and Poland.
Under the Vietnamese theme “Cần Thơ chân thực – Trải nghiệm mới trên dòng Mekong” – “Authentic Can Tho – New Experiences on the Mekong” – the Fam Trip focused on a simple idea: experiencing Can Tho as travelers themselves would experience it.
Seeing More of Can Tho
Cai Rang Floating Market remains one of Can Tho’s most recognizable attractions, but a journey through the city does not have to end there.
During the Fam Trip, participants explored Cai Rang Floating Market, experienced traditional rice noodle making, cycled through the countryside, visited Mua Xuan Ecotourism Area and Gian Gua historical site, and discovered local Mekong cuisine.
Each stop revealed a different part of the destination.
The river introduces visitors to the trading culture that has long shaped life in the Mekong Delta. Cycling brings them away from the main roads and closer to rural landscapes. Traditional food and craft experiences create opportunities to meet local people rather than simply observe a place from a distance.
Together, these experiences show how Can Tho can be explored as more than a checklist of attractions.
What Does This Mean for International Travelers?
For a traveler planning a trip to the Mekong Delta, the value is not simply having more places to visit.
It is having more ways to experience the destination.
A well-designed Can Tho itinerary can combine an early morning on the river with countryside activities, local food, cultural encounters and nature-based experiences. Instead of moving quickly from one landmark to another, visitors can spend more time understanding how people live, work and interact with the waterways and landscapes around them.
Fam Trips are useful because the people who design and sell these journeys can experience the products firsthand. They can see how activities connect, who they may suit and how much time travelers actually need at each destination.
That practical understanding can lead to itineraries that give international visitors more reasons to stay longer and explore beyond the city’s most familiar stops. This was also one of the development directions highlighted for the 2026 Fam Trip.
More Reasons to Stay, More Value for Local Tourism
When travelers have more to experience in Can Tho, they also have more reasons to stay longer and explore beyond the city’s best-known attractions.
A morning at Cai Rang Floating Market can continue with a rice noodle workshop, a countryside bike ride, a local meal or a visit to a nature-based attraction. These experiences make the journey more varied for visitors while bringing them into closer contact with the people and businesses that are part of everyday tourism in the Mekong.
For local tourism, this matters because a longer and more diverse itinerary can create more opportunities for guides, small businesses, local food providers, activity operators and other service partners to take part in the visitor journey.
The value is therefore not simply in adding more stops. It is in creating a Can Tho experience that feels more complete for travelers and, at the same time, allows more local tourism products to become part of the international market.
From Fam Trip to Tourism Connections
The two-day program also included a Gala Networking session, where international travel partners connected with tourism businesses in Can Tho.
For local operators, these conversations provide an opportunity to introduce products directly to companies serving inbound markets. For international partners, they offer a chance to meet the people behind the experiences they have just explored.
That connection between firsthand experience and B2B exchange is one of the most practical outcomes of a Fam Trip: a destination is not only presented, but experienced, discussed and considered for future travel programs.
For Mekong Smile, participating in the organization of the Fam Trip is part of an ongoing effort to connect the Mekong Delta’s local experiences with international travelers and tourism partners.
A more complete journey through Can Tho begins when visitors have more reasons to explore, local communities have more opportunities to participate, and the stories of the Mekong can be experienced where they actually happen.
