Ben Tre has a 65km long coastline, mangrove forests with rich flora and fauna, crisscrossing canals and many islands and sandbanks, so the climate is mild and cool all year round. This is also an oasis made up of three island chains (Bao Island, Minh Island, An Hoa Island) and is deposited by alluvium from the four rivers Tien, Ham Luong, Ba Lai and Co Chien, so the land is very fertile, suitable for growing many types of fruit, the most famous of which is coconut trees. Ben Tre currently has 53,000 hectares of coconut growing land, accounting for 1/4 of the country's coconut growing area, with an annual output of about 500 million fruits, not only supplied domestically but also exported to countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, India, China... Coconuts are processed into many diverse products such as: activated carbon, coconut fiber, shredded coconut, coconut milk, coconut jelly, coconut mask, coconut candy,... Ben Tre people also take advantage of all components of the coconut tree such as trunk, stalk, shell, leaves... to make many unique handicraft products, which are popular with many tourists, concentrated in craft villages in Con Phung (Chau Thanh district) and Hung Phong (Giong Trom district).
Besides, Ben Tre also has many other traditional craft villages such as Cai Mon - Cho Lach ornamental flower craft, My Long rice paper, Son Doc rice paper, weaving, broom making, jar making, etc. This is a favorable condition for Ben Tre to develop craft village tourism associated with eco-tourism.
Village communal houses and ancient houses in Ben Tre are also places that attract many tourists to visit, typically Binh Hoa communal house (Giong Trom district), Phu Le communal house (Ba Tri district) or Phu Tu communal house (Ben Tre city) with a unique ancient white mai tree, over 300 years old and still green. Ben Tre also has an ancient house in Dai Dien commune (Thanh Phu district) over 100 years old, decorated with skillful and delicate carvings.
Ben Tre is especially attractive to tourists with its soulful and lyrical folk melodies, imbued with the characteristics of the Mekong Delta river region, with a variety of lullabies, folk songs, folk songs, folk songs, folk songs, and reformed opera; in particular, this place still preserves and develops the art form of amateur singing - a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This land also preserves a treasure trove of folk literature with tales, poems, riddles, and anecdotes about "old man Ba Tri"...
Every year, Ben Tre holds many unique festivals, typically: the Dong Khoi traditional revolutionary festival (January 17) in Dinh Thuy commune (Mo Cay district); the traditional cultural festival to celebrate the birthday of poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu (July 1) in An Duc commune (Ba Tri district); the festival of delicious and safe fruits and agricultural products of Ben Tre province on the occasion of Doan Ngo festival (May 5 of the lunar calendar), the Nghinh Ong festival of coastal residents (June 15 and 16 of the lunar calendar)... The coconut festival in particular has been upgraded to a national-level Coconut Festival, held every two years on April 30 with many rich activities, attracting many tourists to visit and attend the festival.
Tourists coming to Ben Tre, in addition to visiting the natural landscape of the river and garden and learning about the unique and diverse local culture, are also very interested in community tourism. Coming here, tourists can join the locals in setting traps, catching fish, gardening, growing rice, processing food...; or drifting on the river, visiting coconut candy production facilities, making rice paper, coconut handicrafts; enjoying fresh fruits; listening to Southern amateur music performances... All will bring visitors interesting and unforgettable experiences.
Ben Tre has great opportunities and potentials to develop tourism, in which eco-tourism and cultural-historical tourism are increasingly attracting domestic and international tourists. Currently, the province is having orientations to turn this "smokeless industry" into one of the province's key economic sectors.
