Developing handmade souvenir products associated with mountain tourism activities

Souvenir stall at PuLuong Retreat resort (Ba Thuoc) with many traditional handicraft products.

The mountainous region of Thanh Hoa is a long-standing residential area of ​​over 1 million people, of which over 600,000 are Mong, Dao, Kho Mu, Thai, Muong, Tho. In addition to the unique tangible and intangible cultural values, with their own distinct colors, mountainous localities such as Cam Thuy, Ngoc Lac, Thuong Xuan, Ba Thuoc, Quan Hoa, Quan Son... are also famous for their traditional handicrafts, especially weaving and brocade weaving. From being auxiliary jobs during the off-season, helping local people earn extra income, traditional handicrafts have gradually developed into an independent profession, contributing to improving the lives of people in some mountainous districts.

Up to now, Ba Thuoc is one of the leading mountainous districts in developing community ecotourism. In the process of developing community tourism, the exploitation and development of handmade souvenir products have brought attractive experiences, contributing to preserving the unique cultural values ​​of the Thai and Muong ethnic groups in the district. In particular, the brocade weaving village of Lan Ngoai (Lung Niem commune) is one of the two typical traditional craft villages of the district. Currently, the whole commune has 83 brocade weaving households, with 13 brocade display points. With the strong development of tourism activities, in recent years, local people have increased the production of handmade souvenirs such as scarves, handbags, keychains, wallets... with high applicability, meeting the tastes of tourists.

Chairman of Lung Niem Commune People's Committee, Bui Van Tung, said: "Developing handmade souvenir products from brocade weaving has been an important direction to promote and preserve cultural values, while contributing to the development of the local socio-economy. Recently, handmade souvenir products of production households not only focus on aesthetics, but also aim for convenience, ease of transportation and bear the typical mark of the Thai people. Each year, the locality welcomes about 11,000 tourists to visit and experience the craft village. Thanks to the development of tourism associated with brocade weaving, people's lives have gradually improved, with the average income per capita of the commune currently reaching over 52 million VND/year".

Along with traditional brocade weaving villages in Ba Thuoc district, some mountainous districts with tourist areas and spots have been developing more handmade souvenirs, such as: toothpicks, chopsticks, gift boxes and souvenirs made from bamboo and rattan (Cam Thuy, Quan Hoa, Ngoc Lac, Lang Chanh...); hemp weaving of the Tho people (Nhu Xuan)... Besides, some households are also actively producing and supplying to consumption establishments in other localities inside and outside the province. In response to the needs of tourists, some households and production establishments have boldly expanded their scale, invested in developing more handmade souvenirs bearing the mark of tourism in the West of Thanh Hoa, bringing many choices for tourists.

According to Mr. Vu Van Binh, Director of Trust Viet Company Limited (Thanh Hoa City), community ecotourism in the mountainous districts of Thanh Hoa has its own cultural characteristics, clearly shown in handmade souvenirs associated with traditional occupations and craft villages. However, the characteristics of traditional handicrafts made from rattan, bamboo or brocade at some tourist destinations, such as Pu Luong, Cam Luong fish stream, But village, Nang Cat village... are mostly quite expensive. First of all, due to the input materials as well as the meticulousness and production time required. Therefore, local authorities need to pay attention to the development orientation for traditional craft households in developing a variety of handmade souvenir products, in order to increase the cultural experience for tourists. Along with that, households and production facilities need to study the application of machinery in some production stages, aiming to increase output and reduce product costs, in accordance with the spending level of tourists for souvenir products.

In fact, the current handmade souvenir products in community tourism areas and spots in mountainous areas are still quite limited, only concentrated in some localities such as Cam Thuy, Ba Thuoc, Quan Hoa, Thuong Xuan... Meanwhile, these souvenir products are unique and quite picky about customers. Therefore, in order for traditional handmade souvenir products to "have a place", it is necessary to first promote the connection between production households, production facilities with consumption facilities (resorts, souvenir shops...) and travel businesses. In addition, all levels, sectors and localities need to pay attention to and orient the development of community tourism associated with visiting and learning about traditional crafts and craft villages. Thereby contributing to increasing the experience for tourists, from understanding the value of the product will promote consumption, increase the competitiveness of traditional handmade souvenir products with other souvenir items.

Article and photos: Hoai Anh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-trien-san-pham-luu-niem-thu-cong-gan-voi-hoat-dong-du-lich-mien-nui-244602.htm