From spring festival to Can Gio's "international destination" vision

Tens of thousands of visitors experienced a spring festival "amidst the forest, by the sea" at Vinhomes Green Paradise, showcasing the appeal of an ESG urban area and laying the groundwork for a vision to attract 40 million tourists annually.

After nearly ten months of development, the Vinhomes Green Paradise Can Gio coastal urban area has begun to mark its presence on Ho Chi Minh City's southeastern development map. Its inaugural cultural and tourism event, welcoming investors and tourists, created a seasonal highlight for the area. This event underscored the appeal of its ESG mega-urban model and a range of unique experiences in Can Gio.

Vinhomes Green Paradise spans approximately 2,870 ha, featuring a distinctive landscape structure. It borders the Can Gio mangrove forest, a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve, on one side and the coastline on the other. This combination forms an "ecological shield", mitigating pollution and noise while ensuring international-standard living and resort quality.

This prime location, coupled with the developer's design and planning, positions the area as an attractive destination in southern Vietnam, located only about 50 km from Ho Chi Minh City.

The first demonstration of this appeal was the Can Gio Spring Festival, held for nearly three weeks from 7-28/2, coinciding with the Binh Ngo Tet holiday. As Ho Chi Minh City's tourism recorded record-high visitor numbers during this Tet period, the event emerged as a new highlight for the city's southern coastal region.

The Spring Festival at Vinhomes Green Paradise attracted over 50,000 visitors and investors. On its opening day, 7/2, the event welcomed more than 10,000 people, generating a rare lively atmosphere for the area.

Observing the vibrant atmosphere of the festival, Vo Thi Diem Phuong, Vice Chairwoman of Can Gio commune, stated that the Green Paradise Tet Fest offered a series of meaningful cultural and tourism activities. These contributed to preserving and spreading the traditional values of the Lunar New Year. The event also promoted Can Gio's image as a green, friendly ecological land with significant potential for sustainable tourism development.

Tuan Ngoc, a tourist from Dong Nai, mentioned that while he had visited Can Gio many times, this return offered new experiences. The spring festival, located directly on the urban area's main road, provided a fresh yet vibrant atmosphere with rich experiences. After leaving the festival at Vinhomes Green Paradise, he combined his early spring trip with tours of the Can Gio ecological tourist area.

Nguyen Thanh Tam, a representative of Vinhomes Joint Stock Company, explained that the festival served as the "first sketch" of the ESG urban model in Can Gio, where green and sustainable values are evident within the event space itself. Organizing a large-scale spring festival just ten months after the launch of Vinhomes Green Paradise Can Gio also demonstrated the developer's capability in implementing destination infrastructure, aligning with ESG++ criteria and a sustainable development orientation.

On the southern Vietnam tourism map, Ho Chi Minh City acts as a "gateway", receiving transit passengers before they proceed to nearby destinations like Vung Tau and the Mekong Delta. This journey often involves lengthy travel times and multiple accommodation changes, leading to a fragmented and incomplete tourist experience.

The emergence of Vinhomes Green Paradise is creating a turning point, elevating Can Gio to an international destination. It aims to function as a "magnet", attracting 40 million domestic and international visitors annually.

A primary factor is the reduced travel time from inner Ho Chi Minh City. With the future development of major infrastructure projects, Can Gio's previously "isolated" access will be eliminated.

The Can Gio Bridge, a strategic transport project with a total investment of 10,000 ty dong, will shorten travel time from central Ho Chi Minh City to Can Gio from nearly two hours to approximately 40-50 minutes. The Ben Thanh - Can Gio high-speed urban railway, with a depot station located within the project, will reduce travel time from the inner city to Can Gio to 13 minutes upon completion. The Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway, about 58 km long, passes through Long An, Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai.

The city plans to construct an interchange connecting directly from the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway to Rung Sac road. Once completed, this will serve as a strategic junction, allowing Can Gio district to connect quickly with Long An, Dong Nai, and especially Long Thanh Airport, without passing through central Ho Chi Minh City. Furthermore, the Can Gio - Vung Tau sea-crossing road will establish a strategic trade route, directly linking two of southern Vietnam's largest coastal tourism hubs in just 10 minutes. These connections are foundational for Can Gio to transform from an "ecological island" into a high-end tourism destination, helping redistribute tourist flows away from central areas.

Beyond reducing travel time, Can Gio will also become an "all-in-one" tourist destination, combining resorts, entertainment, events, healthcare, and ecological tourism.

Specifically, the urban area will feature the Blue Waves Theatre, spanning 7 ha with two auditoriums and a total capacity of 5,000 seats. It will also include two international-standard golf courses, the Paradise Lagoon artificial sea lake covering over 800 ha, the Landmark Habour 5-star international cruise port, a 108-story tower, and a resort complex with approximately 7,000 rooms.

A key highlight of the urban area is VinWonders Can Gio, an entertainment complex spanning 122 ha with nearly 200 games and experiential activities. These include an artificial snow mountain 68 m high integrated with a 5 ha snow house, the first motor roller coaster in Vietnam, and a drop tower utilizing projection technology. Additionally, the Vinmec Can Gio hospital and the Vin New Horizon Can Gio model are expected to attract health tourism from various countries.

A distinguishing feature of the project is its foundation in ESG principles for development. While aiming to become an international-level tourism, commercial, and resort hub, the urban plan ensures it does not encroach upon the core area of the Can Gio mangrove biosphere reserve. The natural green corridor and marine ecosystem are preserved throughout the development.

Combining these elements, Vinhomes Green Paradise is expected to drive Can Gio's development into a large-scale resort and entertainment tourism destination. It aims to restructure the southern Vietnam tourism journey for domestic and international visitors, targeting approximately 40 million visitors annually, balancing modern values, traditional culture, and indigenous nature.