Mr. Trinh Van De - Chairman of the People's Committee of An Hao Commune, Tinh Bien Town - said that he had signed a document requesting 10 illegal homestays on Cam Mountain to stop their accommodation business while waiting for the opinion of the competent authorities. "Up to now, the time for homestay businesses to return to their original state has expired. We must request them to stop their operations" - Mr. De said.
Unemployed workers
Upon receiving the document from the local authorities, the homestay owners were surprised and confused when they were forced to lay off their workers. In addition, the guests had booked their rooms in advance, and the homestay owners still did not know how to handle it. "The guests booked more than a month ago, if I now reply that 'the homestay at Cam Mountain has been suspended', it will immediately affect tourism at Cam Mountain" - a homestay owner shared.
To have a beautiful view, the owners of homestays on Cam Mountain had to invest a lot of money before being asked to maintain the status quo and then banned from operating.
In fact, after the COVID-19 pandemic, many homestay businesses on Cam Mountain have operated quite effectively, attracting a large number of young tourists to stay on the mountain. The representative of Phu Si homestay said that 10 homestays are capable of serving more than 1,000 guests per week. Therefore, if 10 homestays are suspended, more than 4,000 tourists cannot stay on Cam Mountain each month. "We have had a very difficult time after the pandemic, we have had to make a lot of efforts to promote the image of Cam Mountain tourism and find a way to survive. It would be better if the local authorities banned us from operating homestays from the beginning, so that we would not invest here" - said the representative of Phu Si homestay.
The owner of the homestay "Nha cua May" continued: "It's not that I say that thanks to homestays, tourism in An Giang has developed, but homestays have contributed significantly to the remarkable development of An Giang tourism in the past 2 years. Currently, every day, there are messages asking for room reservations continuously, especially bookings near Tet, but I don't dare to accept them and I don't dare to make an appointment with customers when I can make a reservation."
Homestay is one of the highlights that attracts many tourists to experience Cam Mountain.
A representative of the group of homestay owners on Cam Mountain expressed: "We need answers, why are homestays banned on Cam Mountain, why don't you guide us on how to do it properly? Why can Da Lat with thousands of homestays still operate normally, open the way for Da Lat tourism to develop and local people there to have conditions to develop the economy . And why not An Giang?".
Another homestay owner lamented: "We jointly develop tourism in Cam Mountain and also create additional economic resources for motorbike taxi drivers, shopkeepers and about 50 workers at homestays to have jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to create conditions for people here to develop together. As for me, if the homestay is banned, I will definitely go bankrupt, because I have borrowed and invested too much capital here."
Mr. Le Trung Hieu, Director of the An Giang Trade and Investment Promotion Center, said that the closure of homestays on Cam Mountain will affect An Giang tourism. "The new type of homestay that has recently been operating on Cam Mountain has contributed significantly to promoting the image of An Giang tourism. Therefore, in my opinion, relevant departments, branches and localities need to find a suitable solution to promote the existence and development of this type of homestay. This is important for the development of Cam Mountain tourism in particular and An Giang tourism in general," Mr. Hieu emphasized.
No instructions but only prohibition?
Homestays on Cam Mountain began to form in 2019, but so far there are only 12 places that introduce themselves as homestays and are operating to welcome guests. It is said to be "self-introduced" because the homestay type has not been licensed to operate on Cam Mountain, although the homestay owners here really want to be guided to operate legally. In that situation, in October 2022, a vice chairman of the An Giang Provincial People's Committee had a working session with Tinh Bien town and related departments and branches on the management situation, orientation for the development of Cam Mountain, and the construction of homestay accommodation type on Cam Mountain. Accordingly, this leader directed the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of An Giang province, together with related departments and branches and the People's Committee of Tinh Bien town to urgently study the draft resolution, thematic issues on the management and comprehensive development of Cam Mountain; determine policies, viewpoints, and goals for many issues; including issues of land management, construction, housing, population, traffic, environment, religion and tourism development orientation; assign the People's Committee of Tinh Bien town to manage, request homestay owners to maintain the status quo, and coordinate with relevant functional agencies to strengthen inspection and strictly handle cases of new construction that does not comply with regulations.
In compliance with local regulations, homestay owners at Cam Mountain affirmed: "After the provincial inspection team requested to maintain the status quo, we did not dare to build any homestays. All of them have been kept intact and have been operating normally for nearly a year now. So why are they now banning us from operating without giving any instructions?"
Another homestay owner wondered: "It has been quite a long time since the conclusion of the Vice Chairman of the An Giang Provincial People's Committee in October 2022, but we have not been instructed on what to do, we only know how to maintain the status quo and operate; no agency has reminded us or given us a solution. We only know that we have to suddenly stop operating since September 11."
Waiting for report to process
Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Hiep, Director of the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of An Giang province, said: "The other day, the People's Committee of An Giang province, the leaders of Tinh Bien town, and the Department of Planning and Investment had a meeting on the homestay issue on Cam mountain. Currently, we are waiting for the report of the Department of Planning and Investment to advise the People's Committee of An Giang province to handle this issue."
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