Dak Lak develops community tourism associated with improving people's lives...

Developing community tourism, creating livelihoods to help ethnic minority households in villages have more income from tourism services, culture, selling handicrafts and cuisine ... At the same time, contributing to raising people's awareness of preserving cultural identity and protecting landscapes, environment, ecology...

Rich potential for community tourism

Dak Lak has a natural area of over ^18,000km2 and possesses rich tourism resources, converging the characteristics of the Central Highlands and the South Central Coast, creating a colorful picture of nature and culture. The province has a population of over 3.3 million people with 49 ethnic groups from all regions of the country; of which, the Ede, M'nong, J'rai, and Cham are local ethnic minorities, and ethnic minorities from other provinces have arrived in the past 50 years such as: Muong, Tay, Nung, Dao, Thai, Mong...

Dak Lak province has 49 ethnic groups living together, creating diversity and richness in traditional culture of the regions.

Head of the Tourism Management Department, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province Nguyen Son Hung said: Each ethnic group has its own cultural identity and customs, creating diversity and richness in traditional culture of the regions. In particular, the local ethnic minorities have their own cultural characteristics such as: The art of performing double drums, triple gongs, five gongs, the epic poem Dam San, Xing Nha, Dam Di... In particular, the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space and the Art of Bai Choi have been recognized by UNESCO as representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Famous tangible cultural heritages such as gong musical instruments, lithophones, stone trumpets, bamboo, long house architecture, tomb architecture, brocade weaving tools, statue carving... are associated with unique values of music, culture, festivals, cuisine... showing the rich cultural life and activities of ethnic communities in the Central Highlands region . This humanistic tourism resource is of high value and very favorable for the development of community tourism.

The Central Highlands gong cultural space has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

According to Mr. Nguyen Son Hung, in addition to cultural diversity and traditional cultural values, Dak Lak also has great potential for tourism development with a 189km long coastline and highland mountains and forests, where there is an ecosystem of dipterocarp forests, special-use forests and many unique nature reserves with diverse types of tourism such as eco-tourism, landscape tourism; cultural and historical tourism; festival tourism ...

Eco-tourism and landscape attractions include scenic spots such as Dray Nur waterfall, Dray Sap Thuong waterfall, Thuy Tien, Bim Bip, Yok Don National Park, Chu Yang Sin, Ea So Nature Reserve, Lak Lake, Ea Kao Lake, Bai Xep, Bai Mon, Hon Yen, Xuan Dai Bay, O Loan Lagoon, Cu Lao Mai Nha...

Cultural and historical sites such as Buon Ma Thuot Prison National Special Monument, Ganh Da Dia National Special Scenic Monument, Bao Dai Palace National Historical Site, Dak Lak Museum, An Tho Citadel relic, Nhan Tower - a unique Champa architectural work; Vung Ro relic site associated with the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea, Mui Dien (Mui Dai Lanh) ... have both historical value and rich tourism potential.

Eco-tourism attractions such as Dray Nur waterfall.

In particular, Dak Lak is also known as a land with many typical festivals such as gong culture, elephant festival , boat racing, fishing, festivals of ethnic minorities... and many traditional craft villages such as: brocade weaving, Yang Tao pottery, wine making, fish sauce village, rice paper village, sedge mat weaving village... In which, there are many potentials and advantages to develop community tourism , especially in ethnic minority villages.

Dak Lak is also famous for hunting and taming wild elephants.

Community tourism is gradually taking off

To exploit the potential and advantages of developing community tourism, improving people's lives, especially in ethnic minority villages, Dak Lak Provincial Party Committee issued Project No. 08/DA-TU dated March 28, 2022 on tourism development in Dak Lak province for the period 2021-2025 and orientation to 2030; Dak Lak Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 08/2021/NQ-HDND dated August 13, 2021 on supporting the development of community tourism in ethnic minority villages and hamlets in the province for the period 2021-2025.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province opened a training course on building experiential tourism products and knowledge and skills to serve tourists for the people of Ako Dhong village, Buon Ma Thuot ward.

Implementing this resolution, the province has implemented support for investment in community tourism development for 5 villages with 12 items. Specifically, in 2022, support for Buon Ako Dhông (Buon Ma Thuot ward) includes 10/12 items and 5 households, total amount of more than 716 million VND; in 2023, support for Buon Kuop (Ea Na commune) includes 12/12 items and 4 households, total amount of more than 793 million VND; Buon Tri (Buon Don commune) includes 12/12 items and 5 households, total amount of more than 920 million VND; In 2024, support for Buon Tuor (Hoa Phu commune) includes 12/12 items and 4 households, with a total investment of more than 874 million VND, Buon Kli A (Buon Ho ward) includes 12/12 items and 4 households, with a total investment of more than 878 million VND.

Many villages in Dak Lak still preserve long houses and traditional cultural values, which are very favorable for developing community tourism.

In addition, implementing the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period, Phase I: from 2021 to 2025 (Project 6); in November 2023, the province will support investment in building typical tourist destinations in Tong Ju village, Ea Kao commune, Buon Ma Thuot city (now Ea Kao ward) and Jun village, Lien Son town, Lak district (now Lien Son commune, Lak).

The supported villages have been announced as community tourism villages and households have been fully trained in skills and techniques to welcome and serve tourists who come to experience community tourism activities and homestay accommodation services.

Community tourism in Dak Lak is increasingly attracting tourists.

In addition, in the province, there are 3 villages including Buon Tring, Buon Ho ward; Buon Ja, Krong Bong commune and Buon Yang Lanh, Buon Don commune supported to develop community tourism under the Border Area Support Project Program - Dak Lak Province Sub-project (ADB project) with the following support contents: investment in construction and handover for use in 2022 including: welcome gate for community tourism village, cultural exhibition house; support for 15 long houses with toilets, concrete yards, clean water wells; support for equipment and utensils to serve visitors at the exhibition house and at 15 long houses; organize training for 15 households with long houses; support 1 set of gongs; open classes to guide editing, staging, and organizing performances of art programs for traditional art troupes.

Community tourism development not only improves the lives of people in villages...

According to the assessment of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province, currently, community tourism villages, especially Buon Ako Dhông, Buon Ma Thuot ward; Buon Tong Ju, Ea Kao ward; Buon Jun, Lien Son Lak commune, are operating community tourism services and homestay accommodation very effectively, preserving traditional living spaces and promoting traditional cultures to serve tourists such as long house architecture, gong culture, brocade weaving, traditional cuisine and agricultural experience activities, learning about culture, village life... becoming typical destinations when tourists learn about the culture of the Central Highlands. Thereby, households have had additional income from tourism services, selling handicrafts and cuisine, contributing to raising people's awareness of preserving cultural identity and protecting the landscape.

but also help people raise awareness of preserving traditional cultural values.

Since being recognized as a community tourism village in early 2023, the number of tourists coming to Ako Dhông village, Buon Ma Thuot ward has increased sharply, especially on holidays, Tet or weekends, the roads in the village are always full of tourist vehicles. The sharp increase in tourists has created more jobs, improved income and living standards of local people, and at the same time, people have more conditions and pay more attention to the work of preserving traditional cultural values.

In the coming years, Dak Lak will focus on developing community tourism to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the province.

Secretary of the Ako Dhông H'Zu Ni Nie village Party Cell said: The whole village currently has 370 households, including 84 ethnic minority households. In recent years, from the support resources for community tourism development, the village has built infrastructure items, improved the environmental landscape, relocated livestock barns, built parking lots, installed signs... People have also been trained in skills to develop community tourism and serve tourists. Thanks to that, up to now, the whole village has 35 long houses of the Ede people and traditional festivals, many sets of gongs, ethnic musical instruments, brocade weaving, making rice wine... have been preserved and promoted, captivating tourists.

Mr. Y Nuel Nie, owner of the cultural space, coffee and cuisine of the Central Highlands, said: Preserving the space of the long house to develop tourism is the right direction and is a highlight to attract tourists. This is a model that needs to be spread and shared with other villages in developing community tourism.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Buon Don Commune Nguyen Canh Tung said: Implementing Resolution 08 of the Provincial People's Council on supporting the development of community tourism, the commune has sent households to learn from models in the Northwestern provinces, and at the same time coordinated the implementation of projects to preserve and promote traditional culture associated with tourism development. Since Tri village was announced as a community tourism village in early 2024, the number of tourists to the village has increased significantly, thanks to which the income and life of families in the village have also been improved.

To make tourism a key economic sector of the province.

Identifying tourism in general, including community tourism, as an important direction to exploit the cultural and ecological values of ethnic communities in the area, attracting domestic and foreign tourists to the province, while creating jobs and improving people's lives. Therefore, in the coming time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province will advise the Provincial Party Committee, the People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee to strengthen the leadership and direction of Party committees and local authorities to raise awareness and innovate thinking on community tourism development; propagate, disseminate, raise awareness and sense of responsibility of all levels, sectors and the whole society about the position and role of community tourism in the socio-economic development of the locality. At the same time, the province will have a master plan and a clear support mechanism to connect community tourism with the provincial tourism supply chain; Continue to review, amend, supplement and perfect institutions, policies and laws to create conditions for community tourism development.

Rich potential for community tourism

Community tourism is gradually taking off

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