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| Vietnamese villages have many advantages for tourism development. (Illustration photo. Source: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) |
(PLVN) - Currently, Vietnam has thousands of villages doing tourism all over the country. Among them, there are many villages with rich natural beauty, cultural foundation, and history of hundreds, thousands of years. This is a potential tourism product that Vietnam can exploit to attract international tourists.
"The fragrance of the fields and the colors of the country" is in the world's top
About 3km from Hoi An ancient town, Quang Nam, surrounded by Co Co river and Tra Que lagoon, Tra Que vegetable village nestles quietly. Since starting tourism, the people of Tra Que vegetable village never thought that their small village would be named on the world tourism map. But on November 15, Tra Que vegetable village in Hoi An was honored by the United Nations Tourism Organization as the "Best Tourist Village in the World", the only representative of Vietnam to receive this award in 2024.
More than 20 years ago, in the bustling tourism development of Hoi An, the government planned and oriented Tra Que vegetable village to become a tourist destination. Houses were relocated, ponds were leveled to create square vegetable fields, with straight paths. In April 2022, vegetable growing in Tra Que was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, a type of folk knowledge and traditional handicraft. Coming to Tra Que vegetable village, visitors can experience planting vegetables, watering plants, fertilizing and tasting fresh green vegetables right in the garden.
Tra Que Vegetable Village is not the only village in Vietnam to be honored internationally. Previously, in 2023, Tan Hoa Village in Quang Binh Province was recognized by UN Tourism (then UNWTO - World Tourism Organization) as the "Best Tourist Village in the World 2023". About ten years ago, the village was considered the "flood center" of Quang Binh. At one point, Tan Hoa residents witnessed a historic flood with water levels rising 12m, submerging most of their houses. Villagers had to evacuate to caves and cliffs to take shelter.
After the efforts of the local tourism industry, the village has now become a famous destination with its peaceful beauty, with a terrain leaning against the mountain and overlooking the poetic river. International tourists highly appreciate the nature-friendly tourism model and sustainable development direction of Tan Hoa village.
In 2022, UNWTO announced the list of 32 best tourist villages in the world in 2022. Thai Hai ethnic ecological stilt house village conservation area in Thai Nguyen is the only representative of Vietnam. Thai Hai covers an area of 25 hectares, with hills, large lakes, trees and 30 stilt houses hundreds of years old. These stilt houses are restored to their original state for preservation. Surrounding the stilt houses is a mountainous landscape, a quiet space.
Overcoming limitations and developing rural tourism
In fact, Vietnam is an agricultural country, most people still live in small villages, hamlets, and hamlets. Tourism has brought new life to many villages in rural, remote, and poor coastal areas. Take for example the stone village of Khuoi Ky of the Tay ethnic group in Cao Bang. From a village with low income and many poor households. Up to now, the lives of the villagers of Khuoi Ky have changed differently from before.
Currently, our country still has many villages that are blessed by nature with "fairy-like, dreamy" landscapes. For example, Ha Long fishing village in Quang Ninh province, Mong ethnic community cultural tourism village in Meo Vac (Ha Giang province)... In addition, Vietnam has more than 2,000 craft villages with hundreds of years of history, preserving unique traditional crafts. Each village contains the cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people, and can completely become a piece to "give wings" to Vietnamese tourism to reach international level.
However, to evaluate and recognize a world-class tourism village, according to UN Tourism, a craft village needs to meet the following 9 criteria: Cultural and natural resources; Promotion and conservation of cultural resources; Economic sustainability; Social sustainability; Environmental sustainability; Tourism development and value chain integration; Tourism management and priorities; Infrastructure and connectivity; Health, safety and security.
Thus, tourism villages in Vietnam that want to reach international standards need to meet high criteria in terms of infrastructure, development orientation, social security, environment, etc. For example, last year, Vietnam had 4 tourism villages submitting applications from the provinces of Quang Binh, Son La, Lai Chau and Hoa Binh, but Tan Hoa with its “weather-adapted tourism village” model was the only one selected. UN Tourism recognized Tan Hoa village’s commitments and actions in sustainable tourism development.
Currently, the vast majority of rural tourism villages in Vietnam still have many limitations. For example, environmental issues, especially in Vietnam, all occupations emit a lot of toxic substances. According to the environmental protection report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2020, only 16.1% of craft villages have centralized wastewater treatment systems that meet environmental protection requirements; the percentage of craft villages with industrial solid waste collection points is only 20.9%.
The UN Tourism World’s Best Villages initiative was launched in 2021 to promote the role of tourism in rural areas, preserving landscapes, cultural diversity, local values and culinary traditions. There are now 254 villages that are part of the world’s largest community of rural destinations.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/no-luc-dua-lang-du-lich-o-viet-nam-vuon-tam-quoc-te-post532574.html
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