Youth Union members take the lead in setting up homestays, helping many local youths find jobs and stabilize their lives.

TPO - Located in the core area of Na Hang Eco-tourism Area (Tuyen Quang), Thuong Lam commune used to be a poor locality, mainly living off slash-and-burn farming. In recent years, people have started opening homestays, doing community tourism, and selling local products to tourists. The new approach has gradually helped people here change their lives.

With experience as a tour guide when he was a student at Hanoi University of Culture, and having traveled to many places and explored many lands, Chau Thanh Nga, a Tay man born in 1991, realized that his homeland is just as beautiful as any other place. “People live in harmony with nature, simply and peacefully. So why don’t I start a business in my homeland when I’m young?”, Mr. Nga shared.

Thinking is doing, Mr. Nga decided to return to Thuong Lam commune (Lam Binh district, former Tuyen Quang province). In 2018, when he was Deputy Secretary of the Thuong Lam commune Youth Union, he and three other young members established the Thuong Lam Youth Cooperative, starting a model of community tourism homestay combined with promoting local products. "We want to create a new direction so that local youth do not have to leave their hometown to make a living," said Mr. Nga.

Mr. Chau Thanh Nga, Secretary of the Thuong Lam Commune Youth Union, founding member of the Thuong Lam Youth Cooperative and Tai Ngao homestay.

The idea of the Thuong Lam Youth Cooperative entered the Tuyen Quang Province Startup Idea Competition and won first prize in 2018. That year, the idea of a community tourism model was also awarded third prize by the Central Youth Union and supported with 300 million VND from the National Employment Fund to realize. Thanks to that, the cooperative was able to access preferential loans, combined with local support to officially operate from mid-2019.

At the beginning, the entire cooperative had only one stilt house as a homestay. To save costs, the members of the commune took turns cleaning, welcoming guests, cooking, and taking them on tours. While working, they learned and made small changes. Each time a guest came to stay, they took notes on their comments, adjusted the service, remade the menu, and added a few new dishes to suit their tastes.

Without investing in modern furniture, the traditional stilt houses in Thuong Lam have become tourist attractions. The old wooden stairs are polished, the blankets and mattresses are carefully washed, the kitchen still has a typical wood stove, helping visitors feel at one with nature. They eat sticky rice, grilled stream fish, hill chicken, drink corn wine with yeast leaves, sleep to the sound of insects chirping, and wake up early in the morning to walk in the misty nature.

Homestay Tai Ngao, Thuong Lam commune, Tuyen Quang.

Currently, the cooperative has two stilt houses, attracting about 800 million VND in revenue each year, creating jobs for 15-20 union members with salaries of 4-6 million VND/month. Of these, 4 people work regularly, the rest are seasonal.

“Many people think they have to go far away to do great things. But sometimes, just doing the smallest things well in the place where you were born can help change an entire countryside,” said Chau Thanh Nga, Secretary of the Youth Union of Thuong Lam Commune.

In addition, many community tourism cooperatives have been opened to meet the demand for tourists. For example, the 99 Mountain Homestay Cooperative in Thuong Lam Commune currently has seven members, managing 15 homestays and 22 boats serving tourists visiting the lake. In 2023, the cooperative's tourism products were recognized as meeting four-star OCOP standards, and are completing documents to aim for five stars.

Mr. Hoa Van Ba, head of the 99 Ngon Nui Homestay Cooperative, said that the locals here have been doing tourism since 2017, initially mainly spontaneously: "At that time, there were many guests but there was no place to sleep, so the locals started cleaning their houses and making extra blankets and pillows for the guests to sleep temporarily." Later, thanks to more tourists knowing about the Na Hang eco-tourism area and the orientation of tourism development in Thuong Lam, the locals were supported to build toilets and buy standard blankets and pillows to welcome guests. Some people were trained in a profession, have certificates for cooking and tour guides.





Mr. Hoa Van Ba, head of Homestay Cooperative 99 Ngon Nui and tourists to Thuong Lam commune, Tuyen Quang.

However, developing community tourism still faces many difficulties. Last year, landslides forced two households in the cooperative to urgently relocate. Some households have traditional wooden stilt houses that used to welcome tourists, but are now degraded and must be dismantled. Mr. Ba said, “The government is now supporting relocation, but rebuilding new stilt houses is very expensive, and people cannot afford it without a loan support policy.”

In addition to traditional homestays, Mr. Ba said the cooperative is testing the bungalow model, separate, compact vacation homes, serving tourists with higher privacy needs. “We have built two prototypes, guests have tried them out, and found them convenient and suitable for young people. We will expand this model if conditions permit,” Mr. Ba shared.

In order to develop Thuong Lam tourism sustainably, Mr. Ba said that the cooperative model always preserves and spreads the unique cultural features of the Tay, Dao, and Mong ethnic groups here. At the same time, the cooperative aims to combine landscape lighting, organize cultural and artistic activities, and meals made from local products. "We aim to expand new tourist villages, so that each village is a separate destination, without duplication, thereby preserving its identity while still making a living," he said.

A corner of Na Hang Eco-tourism Area, Tuyen Quang.

Mr. Ma Cong Kham, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thuong Lam Commune, said that thanks to the boundary of Thuong Lam Commune having up to 3,000 m2 of the 8,000 m2 of Na Hang ecological area, tourism has developed. Currently, the commune has 24 homestays in operation, an increase from 6 households in 2017. Each year, Thuong Lam Commune welcomes more than 40,000 visitors. The community tourism model helps people have jobs, stable income from welcoming guests, consuming local specialties, and experiential tourism. The homestays are associated with ecological tours of Na Hang - Lam Binh lake, Khuoi Nhi waterfall, Mo waterfall, Coc Vai, Pac Ta temple and ethnic art performances...

People are supported by Resolution 09 of the province such as 80 million VND/household eligible to welcome guests, maximum loan of 2 billion VND if investing in tourist boats. Many households are also developing bungalow models suitable for young tourists and foreign tourists. In addition, more than 600 specialty fish cages bring in revenue of about 50 billion VND/year. After merging with Khuon Ha commune, the total number of homestays in the commune will increase to 31, aiming to form a key tourist area in the South of Na Hang eco-tourism area.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/doan-vien-thanh-nien-di-dau-lam-homestay-giup-nhieu-thanh-nien-dia-phuong-co-viec-lam-on-dinh-cuoc-song-post1761221.tpo