Community-based tourism development

Community-based tourism is a type of tourism developed based on the cultural values ​​of a community, managed, exploited, and benefited from by the local community. Recognizing the strengths, role, and value of community-based tourism, Phu Tho province has, in recent years, focused on developing it by promoting the local cultural, historical, and natural landscape values, with the direct participation of the people.

The Hung Lo community-based cultural tourism destination opens up opportunities for local people to increase their income and stabilize their lives.

From the center of Viet Tri city, it only takes about 10-15 minutes by car to reach Hung Lo ancient village, a vast and legendary land located along the Lo River with many relics associated with the Hung King era.

Recognizing the value of the locality's unique tourism resources, the provincial tourism industry has proactively oriented and supported the development and promotion of tourism, exploiting the traditional cultural values ​​of the area. Notable examples include the "Xoan Singing in Ancient Villages" tourism product, performed for tourists at Hung Lo Temple; community-based tourism products associated with visiting ancient houses; and tourism products such as experiencing making banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) and participating in rural agricultural craft villages.

The People's Committee of Viet Tri City has also actively participated in many practical activities: Upgrading roads connecting to Hung Lo, developing and promoting OCOP products to serve tourists, and encouraging people to actively participate in tourism activities...

Thanks to this, the Hung Lo community-based cultural tourism site was recognized as a provincial-level tourist destination by the Provincial People's Committee in September 2021. Since then, community-based tourism and experiential tourism in Hung Lo commune have developed rapidly and sustainably, leveraging the potential and strengths of the Hung Lo communal house complex, traditional craft villages, and a system of over 50 ancient houses.

In just the first 10 months of 2024, the Hung Lo community-based cultural tourism destination welcomed approximately 10,000 visitors, including 22 international river tour groups with nearly 500 tourists. Developing community-based tourism in Hung Lo also opens up opportunities for local people to increase their income. In particular, for women, who make up over 50% of the population, tourism development is a good opportunity to create jobs for them in related industries and services.

Phu Tho – the ancestral land, the cradle of the Vietnamese nation – has a long history of formation and development, with rich and attractive tourism resources and great potential for building and developing various types and products of tourism, including community-based tourism. To create momentum for development, the province has implemented comprehensive solutions such as: selecting and developing community-based tourism destinations with sufficient ecological landscape elements, ensuring safety and security based on the cultural values ​​of the ancestral land for investment and construction; upgrading infrastructure, training human resources to serve tourism development; training and raising awareness among the community, especially ethnic minorities...

The province has also introduced many preferential mechanisms and open policies to attract investment, encourage and support tourism businesses, and develop tourist areas and destinations in the province, especially community tourism associated with the characteristic products and specialties of each region.

To date, the province has four recognized community-based tourism destinations: Hung Lo and Bach Hac (Viet Tri City), Ban Du and Ban Coi in Xuan Son commune (Tan Son district). On average, these community-based tourism destinations welcome hundreds of thousands of domestic and international tourists each year, thereby making a positive contribution to the overall tourism development of the province.

Tourists visiting Du village, Xuan Son commune, Tan Son district can experience the vibrant colors of ecotourism and community culture.

Comrade Duong Nhi Ha, Head of the Tourism Resource Development Department of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated: Community-based tourism is bringing economic benefits to families and contributing to promoting the image of the ancestral homeland's countryside, associated with unique cultural features, to friends from all over the world. Therefore, to develop community-based tourism, preserving and promoting local values ​​is a decisive issue. This can only be achieved on the basis that the people truly understand the value of the natural and human resources they possess, benefit from tourism exploitation associated with these values, and have the awareness to preserve and protect these resources. Only then will community-based tourism development be truly sustainable.

Nguyen Anh

Source: https://baophutho.vn/phat-trien-du-lich-dua-vao-cong-dong-221943.htm