Community-based tourism contributes to poverty reduction.

Viet Tri City currently has two community-based cultural tourism destinations: Hung Lo Community-Based Cultural Tourism Site in Hung Lo Commune and Bach Hac Community-Based Cultural Tourism Site in Bach Hac Ward. These are not only important highlights in preserving and promoting cultural heritage values ​​and developing tourism, but also create economic value, increase income, and contribute to poverty reduction in the city.

Community-based tourism can be understood as a tourism model where local communities are the main providers of products and services to tourists, and they share in the benefits generated by tourism. Through activities serving visiting tourists such as accommodation, food, and experiencing local culture, community-based tourism is becoming a unique and attractive tourism product that meets the increasingly high demands of tourists.

Tourists visit the ancient Hung Lo communal house.

Nestled beside the fertile Lo River, Hung Lo boasts a peaceful rural setting with an ancient communal house over 300 years old and nearly 50 ancient houses ranging from hundreds to several hundred years old, making it a key highlight on the tourism map of Hung Lo community tourism destination. Furthermore, visitors to Hung Lo can immerse themselves in the melodious and lyrical Xoan folk songs, participate in the production of noodles, sticky rice cakes, and other traditional crafts at the village, and experience the familiar and heartwarming atmosphere of the local market – a unique experience not found everywhere.

In particular, since 2022, Hung Lo community tourism has been recognized as a 3-star OCOP (One Commune One Product) at the provincial level, contributing to promoting tourism potential and enhancing the economic value for local people. The main entity of the Hung Lo community tourism OCOP product group is the Hung Lo Community Tourism Service Cooperative with 17 members, providing community tourism services. The members of the cooperative have agreed to operate the service products in parallel with government management, creating economic value and increasing income for members as well as local people.

Comrade La Tien Boong – Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Lo commune, said: From the beginning of the year until now, the Hung Lo community cultural tourism site has welcomed approximately 111 groups of visitors, including 90 domestic groups with 4,489 visitors and 21 international groups with 348 visitors. Community tourism has contributed significantly to promoting socio-economic development and poverty reduction in the locality. Currently, the entire commune only has 9 poor households, a decrease of 1 household compared to 2023, and 3 near-poor households. In the coming time, the commune government will continue to implement the sustainable poverty reduction project, coordinating with the Fatherland Front and the Women's Union to promote propaganda and implement the project to support loans for poor households registered to escape poverty.

Tourists experience pounding rice cakes at the Bach Hac community tourism site.

While not possessing centuries-old houses or the traditional Xoan singing space in the communal courtyard like Hung Lo, Bach Hac ward, where the "three rivers" converge, is renowned for its picturesque river scenery, bustling activity on the docks and waterways, vibrant trade and business, along with a system of temples and pagodas such as Dai Bi Pagoda and Tam Giang Temple, and unique and attractive festivals. For a long time, it has been a cultural and spiritual destination for tourists from all over and the first stop for international river tourism groups on their journey to explore Phu Tho.

With its many potentials and advantages, Bach Hac ward was selected by the Provincial People's Committee to be developed into a community-based tourism destination focusing on spiritual culture and agricultural and rural experiences. Since its opening, the Bach Hac community-based cultural tourism destination has experienced rapid development, becoming one of the key and distinctive tourist destinations of the city and the province. Its tourism products include spiritual and cultural tourism, and scenic tourism, such as visiting the Tam Giang temple complex, Dai Bi pagoda, the Hac intersection, experiencing traditional festivals like the rice cake making festival, and especially the traditional boat racing festival on the Lo River and the sacred water procession ceremony at the river confluence.

With the goal of developing an integrated, multi-value-oriented economy and sustainable development, Bach Hac ward has fully exploited its existing strengths and potential, proactively mobilizing all resources for investment and development. Every year, the Bach Hac community tourism destination attracts tens of thousands of visitors, improving the lives of the people, and enhancing the urban landscape. Currently, the poverty rate has decreased to 0.67%.

Tam Giang Temple and Dai Bi Pagoda (seen from above) are spiritual tourist destinations for both domestic and international visitors.

To promote community-based tourism, Viet Tri city has focused on mobilizing resources and making targeted investments to develop tourism infrastructure, ensuring that local communities have the right to participate in and benefit from tourism activities, and rationally exploiting tourism resources and landscapes according to the principle of exploitation linked to preservation and promotion of traditional culture.

Community-based tourism has contributed to diversifying tourism types and products, improving the income and material and spiritual lives of the people, promoting the development of tourism in Viet Tri city, and gradually achieving the goal of building Viet Tri into a festival city that connects with the roots of Vietnamese ethnic groups.

Vy An

Source: https://baophutho.vn/du-lich-cong-dong-gop-phan-giam-ngheo-221552.htm