Developing community tourism in Tan Son

As one of the 15 largest national parks in Vietnam, Xuan Son National Park (Xuan Son commune, Tan Son district) is identified as an attractive tourist destination not only for Phu Tho province but also for the entire Northwest region, with many valuable features in terms of landscape, geology, diverse ecosystems, rich natural resources, and unique traditional cultural values ​​of the Muong and Dao people. To exploit these potential advantages, Tan Son district has focused on implementing solutions to develop community tourism, ecotourism, and experiential tourism.

Tourists participate in cycling tours to experience and explore the natural landscape and the lives of local people in the core area of ​​Xuan Son National Park.

The Resolution of the 5th Party Congress of Xuan Son Commune, term 2020-2025, identified the development of community tourism and ecotourism as a solution to promote economic restructuring, increase income, create jobs, and reduce poverty for local people. To date, the commune has 11 homestays in operation with 45 self-contained rooms and 12 communal rooms, capable of serving approximately 700 overnight guests with food, accommodation, and traditional products such as: herbal rice wine, Tan Son stream duck, five-colored sticky rice, etc. A favorable aspect is that tourism development helps people avoid having to travel far for work, so when the commune introduced this initiative, many people enthusiastically responded. Currently, the average per capita income in the commune reaches 24 million VND/year; the poverty rate has decreased to 23.8%, and the near-poverty rate to 22.5%.

Long Coc Tea Hill - an attractive destination on the Phu Tho tourism map.

Long Coc, a newly discovered tourist destination in Phu Tho province, is a collection of hundreds of interconnected, bowl-shaped hills. The tea plantations cover an area of ​​677 hectares, with approximately 610 hectares dedicated to tea cultivation for harvesting. Attracting visitors with its picturesque and idyllic scenery, Long Coc tea hills have become a prominent destination in Phu Tho province, especially for photography enthusiasts who enjoy cloud hunting and watching the sunrise over the hills. Significantly, to enhance tourism quality, the local authorities have developed and integrated tea-producing households into tourism activities. Farmers are guided in tourism practices, transforming their daily work into attractive tourism products.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan, Chairman of the Tan Son District People's Committee, to meet the increasing demand and number of tourists, the District People's Committee has focused on developing tourism models from local households. The District People's Committee has also directed relevant units to prepare dossiers and request the Provincial People's Committee to recognize tourist destinations in the district, including the Du Village community tourism destination, the Coi Village community eco-tourism destination, and the Ngoc Waterfall eco-tourism destination. Simultaneously, the district is coordinating with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to provide signage, billboards, and brochures promoting tourism at these destinations; and to build and renovate flower-lined roads in Xuan Son. Currently, all three tourist destinations have issued operating regulations; activities such as welcoming guests, introducing destinations, and providing food and accommodation services are carried out in an orderly manner and in accordance with regulations.

In particular, to connect tourism development activities with community-based cultural tourism and the development of agricultural and handicraft products, the District People's Committee has implemented the preservation of typical and distinctive cultural values ​​at tourist areas and sites such as: houses, costumes, festivals, and folk cultural performances in the communes of Long Coc, Kim Thuong, Xuan Dai, Xuan Son, and Dong Son. Effectively implement agricultural production programs and develop OCOP products to serve tourism, such as: raising multi-toed chickens, Ri chickens, hill chickens, stream ducks, raising wild boars, hybrid wild boars, beekeeping for honey, raising large livestock such as buffaloes, cows, and goats, and producing high-quality green tea... Focus on preserving and processing traditional culinary products such as leaf-wrapped dishes, bamboo-cooked rice, multi-colored sticky rice, moss, stream fish, sticky rice with vegetables, sour meat, dried fish, corn wine, rice wine, deer wine, cam wine, bamboo tube wine, sticky rice cakes, sticky rice cakes, ant egg cakes, and guacam cakes... Pay attention to producing distinctive products reflecting ethnic identity from brocade weaving (clothing, scarves, bags, blankets, pillows, mattresses...), handicraft weaving, and tools for production (baskets, knife sheaths, baskets, crossbows, looms...) to serve tourism.

It can be said that Tan Son has enormous tourism potential; however, in addition to the government's guidance, for this area to achieve a breakthrough, it needs the participation of investors and businesses with extensive experience in community tourism.

Dinh Vu

Source: https://baophutho.vn/phat-trien-du-lich-cong-dong-o-tan-son-214367.htm