Rural tourism - a promising direction

With a diverse network of products and services, the quality of which is increasingly improved, Thanh Hoa tourism is gradually positioning its brand on the national tourism map. In particular, developing rural tourism, focusing on agricultural tourism products, is one of the important orientations to expand the network of destinations and tourism systems of Thanh Hoa province.

Yen Trung tourist village (Yen Dinh) with many attractive experiences for tourists.

Thanh Hoa is a locality with all three ecological regions: mountainous, plain and coastal. With a large land area, combined with different climate sub-regions, suitable for the characteristics of many types of crops and livestock, these are ideal conditions for developing rural tourism, with diverse products that are typical of the destination. Based on existing advantages, rural tourism in the province is currently being promoted in the direction of focusing on agricultural production activities to serve tourists. Up to now, a number of farm tourism destinations combined with entertainment, recreation and education in the province have been put into operation such as: Golden Cow farm (Thuong Xuan); Queen Farm high-tech agricultural area (Quang Xuong); high-tech fruit tree growing model (Thach Thanh); Yen Trung tourist village (Yen Dinh)... In addition, agricultural tourism products combined with community tourism in the mountainous districts of Ba Thuoc, Lang Chanh, Quan Hoa, Quan Son are being gradually exploited and strongly developed in recent times. The destinations not only serve the needs of sightseeing but also allow visitors to directly participate in activities such as planting, harvesting, processing agricultural products... and some other fun and entertainment activities.

About 40km from the center of Thanh Hoa city, Yen Trung tourist village (Yen Dinh) is considered an attractive highlight of rural tourism in Thanh Hoa. The characteristic of this destination is the space imbued with the Northern countryside, bringing visitors a variety of folk experiences such as: fishing, cooking rice with firewood, riding buffalo, planting rice, showing outdoor movies... In particular, the ancient house space "Where time stays" - preserving and displaying agricultural production tools hundreds of years old, vividly recreating the architecture of the ancient Northern countryside. For tourists, especially those in urban areas, this destination is truly new and impressive. Thanks to that, although it has only been put into operation for more than 4 years, Yen Trung tourist village has quickly attracted a large number of tourists and become a four-season tourist destination of the province.

Mr. Dau Khac Tien, manager of Yen Trung tourist village, said: One of the advantages of Yen Trung tourist village is that it is located in the middle of a peaceful countryside and is on the way to connect with the province's key tourist destinations such as Lam Kinh National Special Relic Site (Tho Xuan), Ho Dynasty Citadel World Cultural Heritage Site (Vinh Loc)... With the goal of becoming one of the province's rural tourism centers, it is expected that in phase 2 of the project, the tourist village will develop some more items such as lakeside villas, entertainment services such as marinas and floating restaurants... creating a richer tourism ecosystem. This is also a solution to renew destinations and develop new products in line with the province's orientation of developing green tourism and four-season tourism.

Along with a number of localities in the province, Ha Trung is identified as one of the districts with great potential for developing rural tourism. According to the "Project for developing tourism in Ha Trung district to 2030", the district strives to make tourism an important economic sector by 2030, becoming a new and attractive destination of the province. In particular, focusing on attracting investment to develop 6 key tourism clusters, concentrated in communes and towns such as: Ha Long town, Ha Linh town; communes of Ha Son, Yen Duong, Ha Tan, Ha Dong, Ha Tien, Ha Ngoc... With its existing potential and strengths, rural tourism in the district will focus on a number of products such as: cultural and historical tourism; beliefs, spirituality; ecological tourism combined with relaxation; river tourism.

In 2024, Ha Trung district organized a number of survey programs to assess tourism development potential; organized conferences to consult with experts and tourism businesses. Through the survey, community tourism expert Duong Minh Binh commented: “With rich natural landscapes, diverse culture, and the right direction, rural tourism in Ha Trung district can be successful and develop sustainably in the future. In particular, it is possible to choose Tien Hoa ancient village (Ha Linh town) to build a pilot model and connect with neighboring "satellites" such as Ha Son, Ha Dong, Ha Tien, Ha Tan communes... to expand the network of destinations. We believe that rural tourism in Ha Trung district in particular, Thanh Hoa province in general, has a lot of potential for strong development, but needs to be invested in a systematic way and promote the cultural values ​​and characteristics of the destination".

Although rural tourism in Thanh Hoa has only recently been developed, some tourism products associated with the characteristics of the destination have been welcomed by tourists. This is one of the directions in line with the trend of developing "green tourism" and sustainability. However, facing the requirements for tourism development in the new situation, some experts believe that it is necessary to attract "bait" investors and build specific models in rural areas. Thereby, orienting the community to develop suitable products, avoiding fragmented and small-scale development leading to waste of natural resources and destination values.

Article and photos: Hoai Anh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/du-lich-nong-thon-huong-di-day-trien-vong-236484.htm