Going into the forest to collect herbs, find folk remedies or discover precious medicinal plants in the deep forest, health tourism with "online healers", and then experiencing the use of natural herbs are attracting millions of Facebook and TikTok users...
Creating social media content about traditional medicine is helping many localities attract tourists from all over - Screenshot
Just like people in the lowlands use mugwort, ginger, ginseng... as medicinal herbs, taking advantage of social networks, many elderly people in the mountains have created very simple personal channels to promote their medicinal herbs and precious medicines; attracting tourists to explore.
Create a "basic" video, the views "crash"
Originating from a conversation about the midterm exam content that Ms. Bui Thi Truc's daughter (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) wanted to learn about which medicinal plants are good for health, her personal page suddenly "ran out" information that surprised Ms. Truc: "Personal accounts clearly state the names of Mrs. A, Mr. B, mountain herbs. These channels introduce tree roots in the forest, liver and joint problems that can be cured... Or very attractive videos of journeys into the forest to find medicinal plants".
Similarly, Mr. NVH (35 years old, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province) accidentally saw a personal page recording his journey to dig for a medicinal herb that looks like ginger and is said to cure... infertility.
"I don't know how effective it is, but the way the mountain people dig up the roots, leaving a part in the mountain wall to germinate; then explaining the name, uses, and how to use it made me watch it over and over again because it was so attractive. Near Tet, my wife and I went on a trip and asked someone to take us into the forest," said Mr. H.
The price of a plant considered a valuable medicine ranges from 600,000 to 1 million VND; other herbs range from 300,000 to 500,000 VND. And the cost of taking Mr. NVH and his wife into the forest to explore is 150,000 VND/session; if staying overnight, the price of accommodation at a local house depends on the guest.
Mr. H. promised to return for tourism and relaxation next summer. "Learning more about medicinal plants, expanding folk remedies, and discovering interesting natural tourist attractions...", Mr. H. said.
A video of a group of "herbalists" going into the forest 30km from home to collect medicinal herbs in Tuyen Quang on Facebook, TikTok... is narrated very naturally but is attractive because of the way the video is created "with a story" that is hard for viewers to resist, some videos have reached millions of views.
From the beginning of the steep pass, to climbing over cliffs and streams, the "medicine men and women" do not forget to introduce the beautiful mountain scenery to the viewers. When discovering medicinal herbs, they introduce the names in detail and list a series of uses...
After each trip, after each view, there are "storms" of comments. For example, "great way to do tourism"; "I wish I could experience going to collect herbs with the people in the mountains one day"...
Creating momentum for local tourism
According to a lecturer at the tourism department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture, middle-aged people in the mountains have some knowledge of folk medicine tips, combined with creativity and taking advantage of social networks to create videos that arouse curiosity and attract attention.
"From a tourism perspective, I consider this to be creative, knowing how to take advantage of the unique "special" products of the locality, associated with natural tourism in digital space," he said.
The female lecturer analyzed: "When people promote medicinal herbs, local authorities and functional agencies should invest. For example, training people in basic knowledge of traditional medicine, investing in accommodation for visitors to explore...
Because this is the trend of discovery tourism associated with health. Doing it properly and expanding it will create momentum for local tourism to develop."
Meanwhile, Mr. Nong Viet Yen, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Yen Bai province, said that the province has about 30 health care tourism models associated with traditional medicine to anticipate the health tourism trend.
According to Mr. Yen, health products associated with tourism do not only lie in folk remedies and secrets, but need to be developed from experts who understand herbs and scientifically proven products: "For example, in Tram Tau district, natural hot mineral springs are combined with massage and acupressure to nourish health; or in Mu Cang Chai, there are hawthorn trees, wild honey, codonopsis, panax notoginseng... which are products combined as medicine, drinks, and dishes to treat diseases to serve tourists".
According to the director of a travel company on An Duong Vuong Street (District 5), health care tourism has been predicted by the World Tourism Organization to be one of the six tourism trends that will develop strongly in the 21st century.
"Vietnam has advantages in traditional medicine. Using medicinal herbs to restore health or take care of health is also a priority for many tourists.
In fact, some tourism agencies have brought tourists to experience the medicinal baths of the Red Dao people, creating a good impression on foreign visitors. If localities do well, we will bring groups of tourists to experience it because health tourism is a popular trend," he said.
Every year, Vietnamese people spend billions of dollars on traveling abroad and health care.
According to data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2018, 350,000 foreigners came to Vietnam for medical treatment and vacation, spending 2 billion USD.
Meanwhile, every year about 40,000 Vietnamese people go abroad for medical treatment and tourism, spending billions of dollars.
A survey from YouGov found that 21% of global travellers are currently travelling for health and wellness reasons in 2022, but this demand is set to increase rapidly to 29% by 2023 and is expected to grow by around 10-12% annually.
Attract international tourists
A scene from the clip about exploring medicinal herbs in the forest, introducing the beautiful mountain scenery of the highland people - Screenshot
Currently, there are many Facebook and TikTok accounts on this topic that are quite popular, such as BL Herbal Medicine, MK Dao Do, Tay FM or TC..
Here, the videos introduce the channel owner taking international tourists into the forest and instructing them on how to distinguish medicinal plants, choose vegetables to eat at a hut on the field, or enjoy a meal in a shabby hut that is very strange to tourists.
Another special point is that many of these channel owners speak English well. Some said they graduated from university but because of circumstances, they returned to their hometown to become farmers.
Because of the authenticity of the videos and the strangeness of the agricultural products, whatever the channel owners post, viewers ask to buy: if they post a clip of pulling cassava, people want to buy cassava, if they cook sticky rice, people ask about sticky rice...
The herbs that these channels exploit to attract the most customers are doi seeds, mac khen (used in dipping sauces and as spices for dishes), liver-cooling leaves, and bathing leaves for postpartum women...
According to an expert in oriental medicine, when watching these channels, he realized that the ethnic minority people who own the channels have certain experience with medicinal plants. However, this is a product that affects health and not everyone can drink it. The provinces should open classes to instruct people on how to both exploit and preserve forests, how to advise buyers to use medicinal leaves safely, how to use medicine from medicinal herbs according to the disease...
Because they are both blood-enriching plants, there are two types of plants that are quite similar, but the prices and effects are different. Or when consulting, some channel owners instruct that blood-enriching plants have the effect of enriching the blood, but others instruct that it increases blood flow to the brain!
If localities do not soon instruct local herbalists, there can easily be accidents after using medicinal leaves.
Travel in the world of herbsSource: https://tuoitre.vn/du-lich-suc-khoe-cung-thay-lang-trieu-view-20250310003910624.htm
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