Opening up the direction of rural tourism development in Dien Ban

Mr. Nguyen Tan Phap (Tan Thanh village, Dien Phong commune, Dien Ban) is one of the initiators of developing community and rural tourism in Dien Ban. In 2014, Phap graduated with a degree in construction (Da Nang College of Technology). After a short time working in the city, in 2016 he decided to return to his hometown to start a business with a model of growing organic clean vegetables with a group of local friends.

Many times going to Hoi An to see foreign tourists visiting and experiencing the Tra Que vegetable beds, Nguyen Tan Phap cherished the dream of developing tourism in his hometown. Wandering down to Tra Que to learn the trade, in 2018 he officially stepped into tourism.

At first, almost no one in the Go Noi area did tourism. Phap had to learn everything, from finding tourist attractions, learning to cook, welcoming guests, improving foreign language skills, finding guests to borrowing investment capital, renovating houses, buying supplies, etc.

Through connections with travel companies in Hanoi, the first visitors have also come to the village. Since then, the number of visitors coming here to visit and experience has been constantly increasing. This year alone, Nguyen Tan Phap has organized nearly 50 tours for visitors to experience Dien Phong village activities such as cycling to visit the fields, learning to farm in the family's ^700m2 garden, learning to cook and enjoying local cuisine... Most visitors come from Europe, Australia, America, small scale, experience time about 3 hours.

“Every day I receive a maximum of 2 groups of guests divided into 2 sessions, I cannot receive more because the space in my house is only that much. In particular, I do not want to have chaos, losing the peacefulness of the countryside” - Mr. Phap shared.

According to Mr. Phap, the Go Noi area has many unique landscapes and cultures, and is located on the heritage route connecting Hoi An and My Son temple complex. If the connection is reasonable, it will create breakthroughs in the development of tourism in this countryside. Because most of the visitors who experience Nguyen Tan Phap's tourism model combine a visit to My Son with a schedule of one session in Dien Phong and one session in My Son.

Visiting the Au Lac cultural tourist site, visitors can experience the stages of carving to create their own wooden products under the guidance of skilled craftsmen; listen to the introduction of 3 unique works of Au Lac wood carving art including "Thu River and Ngoc Mountain", "Sacred Soul of Mountains and Rivers" and "Than Nong" to better understand the cultural history of Quang as well as the Vietnamese people..., before enjoying a vegetarian meal "Than Nong" amidst the peaceful natural scenery of the countryside.

Mr. Le Hoang Ha - Director of Emic Travel Company, a unit specializing in bringing tourists to the countryside, recognized that there is still a lot of room for rural tourism development in Go Noi area. In particular, a big advantage is that it is not too far from Hoi An ancient town, making it easy for businesses to organize tours to bring tourists there. In Cam Phu village alone, in 2024, Emic cooperated with partners to bring dozens of tourist groups to visit and experience.

On December 10, 2024, the first International Conference on Rural Tourism took place in Quang Nam, marking the importance of rural tourism in the world. Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long affirmed that developing rural tourism not only promotes economic transformation, reduces the development gap between rural and urban areas, but also promotes, honors, preserves, enriches, develops and spreads unique local values, bringing a better life to the people.

Currently, the United Nations Tourism Organization is also expanding the implementation of the “Tourism for Rural Development Program” to protect natural and cultural resources, empower communities and create jobs. This is very meaningful and consistent with the three pillars of sustainable development: economy, society and environment. At the same time, it is also consistent with the orientation of green economic development and circular economy that Vietnam is aiming for.

In fact, since 2016, Triem Tay Community Tourism Village (Dien Phuong) has become one of the prominent destinations of Dien Ban, attracting a large number of international tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Tuan - Director of Hoi An DMC Tourism Co., Ltd. shared that from the end of 2023 until now, Triem Tay village has gradually become a place that Hoi An DMC Tourism Co., Ltd. has chosen to bring guests to regularly because the village still retains its rustic, primitive features, far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

“From Hoi An, guests are taken by electric car to Triem Tay to visit the ecological garden house of architect Bui Kien Quoc, experience mat weaving, sculpture making, rest and eat at a riverside restaurant, then take a boat back to Hoi An,” said Mr. Tuan about the guests’ itinerary.

As a business specializing in exploiting European, Australian, American tourists, markets that love rural scenery, Mr. Tuan is always looking for new and attractive destinations to meet the needs of customers. And Triem Tay is a typical destination chosen by Hoi An DMC Tourism Company Limited.

The success of Triem Tay has contributed to spreading community and rural tourism to neighboring craft villages such as Le Duc Ha terracotta and Nguyen Van Tiep wood. In particular, Le Duc Ha terracotta has become a new craft village destination for domestic and foreign tourists, especially students...

On May 9, 2023, the People's Committee of Dien Ban town issued a Plan for rural tourism development in new rural construction in the town until 2025, emphasizing that the development of rural tourism in Dien Ban will be based on promoting traditional cultural values, rural landscape environment, contributing to the restructuring of the rural economy and sustainable new rural construction.

At the same time, increase the attraction of social resources, especially from the private sector, active participation from local communities, towards building and developing competitive tourism products, goods and services in the market, contributing to economic restructuring, creating jobs and increasing income for local workers, developing rural tourism associated with new rural construction.

In early December 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Ban town also issued a Decision approving the project "Supporting the development of community tourism in Cam Phu - Go Noi village" for the period 2024 - 2025. Accordingly, the State will allocate more than 1.14 billion VND to focus on investing and implementing tasks to support the development of community tourism in Cam Phu 1 & 2 village (Dien Phong commune) towards the goal of supporting Cam Phu people to participate in tourism business activities. Preserving and promoting the cultural values and countryside of Cam Phu...

From there, protect the environment sustainably through a pilot model of plastic waste-free tourism, waste recycling... Preserving the landscape, protecting the green agricultural environment, implementing landslide prevention, and preserving the ecological environment of a rural village.

Previously, in March 2022, Cam Phu Community Tourism Village was also recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a tourist destination of the province. In 2024, this tourist village was voted by World Challenge partners as Green Youth Collective's activities in Cam Phu as one of 8 projects worldwide to receive the World Challenge award for Positive Impact on Local Communities and Tourists.

Ms. Phan Thi Thai Hoa - Deputy Director of the Center for Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dien Ban town (the investor of the Cam Phu Community Tourism Village project) said that with the initial successes and the support of the town and the province, the project will create an important foundation to promote the Cam Phu Community Tourism Village to develop further, bringing benefits to the community, local authorities and associated businesses...

In recent times, Dien Ban Center for Culture, Sports and Tourism has implemented many practical activities from opening training classes; training to raise awareness and skills in community and rural tourism; building a Code of Conduct for Cam Phu Community Tourism Village without plastic waste..., to organizing famtrips, connecting investment businesses, bringing visitors back...