Follow the birds in the sky

Birdwatching tourism has been around for hundreds of years and bird watching tours often cost thousands of dollars. This type of tourism is becoming an attractive and well-received tourism product in Vietnam. According to statistics, our country has about 920 endemic and migratory bird species and is a priceless "treasure" of nature, inviting passionate footsteps to follow the shadow of birds in the sky, even if they have to travel to distant seas, high mountains, dense forests...

When it comes to bird watching tourism in Vietnam, it is impossible not to mention ornithologist Nguyen Hoai Bao, founder of Wildtour - a pioneer and leading experienced unit in this field. Mr. Nguyen Hoai Bao is also a lecturer at the University of Natural Sciences - Ho Chi Minh City National University, a photographer and an environmental activist.

According to Mr. Bao, from now (November) is the dry season until the beginning of the rainy season next year (May) is the ideal time to watch birds in Vietnam. The last two months of the year have favorable weather and many migratory birds from the north come to winter in coastal wetlands from Xuan Thuy National Park (Nam Dinh) to Can Gio (Ho Chi Minh City) and Ben Tre in the south...

From January to April, it is suitable for tours in tropical forests such as: Cat Tien National Park (Dong Nai), Bidoup-Nui Ba (Lam Dong), Phong Nha-Ke Bang (Quang Binh), Cuc Phuong (Ninh Binh), Tam Dao (Vinh Phuc)... when many species of birds show off their clear chirping and brilliant feathers.

In the inland swamp area is Tram Chim National Park (Dong Thap), not only tourists but also many photographers, journalists, scientists... often come to admire the resident and migratory birds. Photographer Ngo Tran Hai An (Ho Chi Minh City), a young influencer on social networks, said that he has been to Tram Chim at least ten times because he loves the ecosystem of this "kingdom of birds and water flowers".

During the annual flood season (around August-November), Tram Chim enters the bird breeding season with abundant food sources for all species, opening up many sightseeing routes combined with unique wildlife experiences. Recently, journalist Do Doan Hoang (Hanoi), a famous reportage writer, also had a bird watching trip to Tram Chim National Park and shared: "Nature invaded me... Taking one or two steps to the boat dock, taking pictures of flocks of thousands of birds taking off at once, groups of birds gathering together is the most interesting thing I have ever seen".

Expert Nguyen Hoai Bao (standing in the middle) once guided tourists to watch birds. (Photo: Wildtour)

Going to see with your own eyes the beautiful, healthy birds in their wild habitat has become a hobby and habit of nature lovers all over the world. According to some studies, the activity of observing and learning about birds in the wild with the naked eye or some supporting equipment appeared and quickly became a trend in England in the 20th century, then spread to European countries, America, Australia...

Nowadays, this type of tourism has developed in the direction of traveling to wild lands to learn, experience, and take photos of rare birds and many other wild animals on the journey. In Vietnam, since the 1990s, groups of tourists and international experts have begun to appear sporadically to see birds, but most of them are spontaneous. In 2005, Wildtour (Wildlife Research and Tourism Services Company Limited) was established by Nguyen Hoai Bao and some colleagues.

With a foundation in scientific research and a passion for conserving the world of wild birds, they spent more than three years surveying all forest and sea areas with rare wild birds, building tours, applying for official licenses... when bird watching tourism was still very little known in Vietnam.

From the initial market mainly for international visitors, focusing on developed countries in Europe and North America, after 2015, Vietnam bird watching tours have had more visitors from Thailand and Singapore. Up to now, the number of visitors has expanded to include groups who love to create wildlife photography from Japan, Korea, China, India...

Ornithologist Nguyen Hoai Bao emphasized that bird watching tours bring many values ​​such as: Diversifying tourism products, solving labor needs, increasing financial resources to support conservation work, spreading and encouraging environmental protection awareness of both visitors and local people...

In recent years, in addition to organizing bird watching tours and collaborating with international partners, Wildtour has also initiated many activities to spread the love of nature, especially to young people. These include bird watching festivals (Birdrace) in national parks, events welcoming and saying goodbye to migratory birds, photography competitions about birds and wild animals...

Although bird watching tours are in the high-end segment with average long-term tour prices ranging from 3,000-6,000 USD/person (about 75-150 million VND), Wildtour representative said that this unit is fully booked for all tours until the end of 2026. Short-term bird watching tours also cost from 2-3 million VND, higher than mass tours.

However, with its emotional and unique experiences, bird watching tours in Vietnam are considered to have great potential to attract high-spending customers and influential people.

There are wealthy guests or world-famous experts who have come and returned to Vietnam many times, stayed for long periods of time, and spent "huge" amounts of money just to hunt and track one (or several) extremely beautiful and rare bird species, such as red-crowned cranes, grey-throated thrushes, mountain swiftlets, red-crowned green woodpeckers, magpie crows, white-necked cranes...

There are bird species that only live in Da Lat (Lam Dong), or only appear on Fansipan peak (between Lao Cai and Lai Chau)... and when coming to these places, visitors can not only watch birds but also immerse themselves in the majestic, poetic landscape and experience the local cultural identity.

In fact, there have been many successful models of rare bird conservation combined with ecotourism in some countries. For example, in New Guinea, indigenous tribes have switched from hunting to protecting birds of paradise, a rare and beautiful bird species, for wildlife photography tourism. In Cambodia, the conservation program for the great ibis and green-winged ibis in Tmatbouy village not only protects the bird population but also generates income for the people through community-based tourism and ecotourism activities.

In Vietnam, Cat Tien National Park is estimated to have attracted more than 1,000 international visitors to photograph the striped-bellied pitta, or similarly Tram Chim National Park has attracted many visitors to see and photograph waterfowl in the wild natural environment typical of the swamp, bringing revenue to travel businesses and the national park.

According to Mr. Bao, the current trend in the world is to exploit nature to develop tourism in a long-term and sustainable way. To do so, it is necessary to demonstrate the economic value of conservation, and inspire the community and tourists to protect birds and other species. Mr. Bao also shared some difficulties that prevent bird watching tourism in Vietnam from fully promoting its value.

Facilities at bird watching spots are generally limited, very few places can meet basic clean accommodation standards for tourists like the Wildbird Hotel in Tram Chim National Park or the accommodation area of ​​Cat Tien National Park.

In addition, the source of tour guides for this special tour is also very limited and weak, they not only need tourism expertise but also need to be trained in ecology and have a love for wild nature. Indiscriminate hunting, extermination of wild birds, and destruction of bird habitats are also difficult problems that require the coordination of many related parties to prevent...

Currently, there are about 10 domestic companies operating bird watching and bird photography tours across Vietnam. Mr. Nguyen Luong Dung, Director of Vietnature Tour, a forestry expert and former employee of Cat Tien National Park Tourism Center, expressed: "The field of tourism associated with wild nature is showing signs of improvement in Vietnam, associated with positive changes in thinking about how to do sustainable tourism, as well as protect the environment and biodiversity."

Source: https://nhandan.vn/theo-bong-chim-troi-post845327.html