Great potential
Coming to the upstream eco-tourism site of O Lau (Phong Dien district), many tourists are amazed that there is such an ideal tourist destination more than 50km northwest of Hue City. The upstream of O Lau has many streams and waterfalls that still retain their wild beauty, convenient for visitors to explore the mountains and forests, camp and relax on weekends.
Hue not only has strengths in heritage tourism, spiritual cultural tourism, sea tourism... but when "naming" famous types of tourism in the ancient capital, many people immediately remember ecotourism associated with streams and waterfalls. Throughout the districts and towns of Thua Thien Hue, from the lowlands to the highlands, it is easy to see that the potential for ecotourism associated with streams and waterfalls is huge. In the summer, many streams and waterfalls become bustling tourist destinations.
In recent years, tourism at the stream and waterfall tourist spots in Thua Thien Hue has been invested in both infrastructure and tourism services. Mr. Hoang Thanh Duy, Director of the A Nor Community Ecotourism Cooperative (Hong Kim Commune, A Luoi District) shared: “In addition to developing accommodation services at homestays, the stream and waterfall tourist spots also connect with businesses to organize large groups of visitors. Based on the characteristics of the mountainous region, tourism workers in A Nor apply services for visitors, helping visitors to have a unique experience of steaming their teeth at the waterfall, using hot steam boiled from herbs picked from the forest; washing their hair by the stream, the shampoo water is boiled herbs picked from the forest... Visitors are very excited”.
According to representatives of travel agencies, in the summer, many tourists choose to explore and experience eco-tourism destinations associated with streams and waterfalls. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An, Director of Hue Connection Tourism Company Limited, said that, for example, A Luoi stream and waterfall tourism is currently very attractive to tour groups. In addition to bathing in streams, the diversity of experiences in services associated with streams and waterfalls, such as: making Aquat cakes or pounding rice, drying rice; enjoying traditional cuisine; campfires, cultural exchanges... are very popular with tourists, so businesses have included them in the tour.
Focus on development
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism, said that streams and waterfalls are the strength of Hue tourism, and are products that are determined to complement the cultural heritage products. The Department of Tourism is implementing a project to develop stream and waterfall tourism in the whole province. The tourist destinations managed by local people and cooperatives will increasingly improve services and become more professional. Meanwhile, the destinations invested and exploited by enterprises must be large-scale and of high quality.
The Provincial People's Committee has also issued a plan (No. 250/KH-UBND dated July 10, 2023) to implement the Project "Orientation for the development of ecotourism sites associated with streams and waterfalls in Thua Thien Hue province". According to the representative of the Provincial People's Committee, this project clearly identifies specific goals, which are to build a number of key models of ecotourism associated with streams and waterfalls; review local mechanisms and policies to ensure land management and training of rural labor resources. Plan and invest in developing tourism products based on outstanding strengths and attractiveness of tourism resources; focus on prioritizing the development of ecotourism products; gradually form a system of national tourist areas and sites; regional and local tourist areas and sites. The province will prioritize the development of ecotourism products associated with biodiversity exploration, agricultural and rural ecotourism, developing craft village tourism and community tourism combined with home-stay accommodation. Maximizing the participation of local authorities, people and communities; managed, organized, exploited, benefited by the community and with professional support from consulting units...
According to Director of the Department of Tourism Nguyen Van Phuc, the key task in the orientation of developing eco-tourism sites associated with streams and waterfalls in the province is to invest in infrastructure to develop stream and waterfall tourism sites; invest in wastewater treatment systems and works at stream and waterfall eco-tourism sites and invest in and upgrade tourist parking lots and boat docks; support the construction and development of tourism products, including building 4 eco-tourism models associated with community tourism in localities (Kazan waterfall - Nam Dong district, Khe Su stream - Phu Loc district, O Lau upstream eco-tourism site - Phong Dien district, Par Le stream - A Luoi district).
In the current context, when the "competition" in tourism in localities is very large, besides the attention to investing in infrastructure, eco-tourism destinations also need to improve tourism products and add more suitable products; invest in a system of games at tourist destinations, such as SUP rowing, kayaking, rope games...
The issue of professionalization in tourism also needs special attention. In the coming time, many training courses on professional expertise, handling situations in rescue and drowning; fostering knowledge about community tourism, foreign language skills, management and tourist services will continue to be opened, contributing to the development of eco-tourism associated with streams and waterfalls; building tourism worthy of being a key economic sector of the province.
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