A promising direction for agro-tourism.

Việt Nam•30/07/2023

Previously, when talking about tourism in Binh Thuan, people usually only mentioned beach tourism. But now, with the addition of agricultural farms combined with experiential tourism and ecotourism, Binh Thuan's tourism products are richer and more diverse than before.

On weekends, Le My vineyard (Phuoc The commune, Tuy Phong district) is crowded with tourists . The vineyard owner, a member of the 80s generation, started his business with nearly 1 hectare of green and Japanese pink grapes cultivated in staggered seasons. Whenever the grapes ripen, visitors come to check in, enjoy the fruit in the vineyard, buy fresh grapes and processed grape products such as grape wine, grape syrup, and dried grapes. Recently, the owner has also partnered with about 20 households to cultivate 4 hectares of safe grapes using staggered harvesting methods so that there are always ripe grapes to serve tourists. At times, up to 30 tourist buses visit the vineyard. This has created jobs for about a dozen workers and increased the income of the affiliated vineyard owners by more than 20%. This place has become an attractive rural tourism destination, no less appealing than Ninh Thuan, the grape capital, acting as a "magnet" attracting tourists to Tuy Phong.

Mr. Nhu Quoc Thich, Head of the Agriculture Department of Tuy Phong District, said that agricultural cultivation combined with tourism has developed in the district in recent years. “In the district, there is the Co Thach Pagoda tourist area. Whenever visitors come to visit the pagoda, they often want to visit the vineyards in the district. Therefore, in Phuoc The commune, some households have started producing grape wine and other grape-related products to sell to tourists. In the future, the locality will continue to develop such models effectively to bring stable livelihoods to the people,” Mr. Thich shared.

Following the same approach, Ba Tuong Farm (Thien Nghiep Commune, Phan Thiet City) has also focused on clean agricultural production while attracting visitors to experience and enjoy the local specialties. Accordingly, the farm is open to visitors every day of the week to tour and enjoy Thien Nghiep Siamese coconuts. Furthermore, visitors are guided through the process of caring for and feeding local specialties such as pigeons, hybrid wild chickens, and sand lizards. Ba Tuong Farm has been building an ecosystem linking the production and consumption of clean specialties for many years, but combining it with tourism and the enjoyment of local cuisine is only a recent development. This novel and interesting approach to combining agriculture with tourism has received high praise from both local authorities and visitors.

Previously, when talking about tourism in Binh Thuan, people usually only mentioned beach tourism. Now, however, with the addition of agricultural farms combined with experiential and ecotourism, the local tourism products are richer and more diverse than before. These include agro-tourism models such as "grape and apple farming in Tuy Phong district"; "admiring waterfalls, mountains and forests and enjoying fruits in Da Mi in Ham Thuan Bac district"; ecotourism in pomelo orchards in Dong Ha or durian orchards in Da Kai, Duc Linh district; "dragon fruit, cantaloupe and imported grapes in Ham Thuan Nam district"; and ecotourism in coconut groves combined with fishing in La Gi town...

Mr. Phan Van Tan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan province, said that agro-tourism is on the right track, effectively exploiting the potential strengths of combining agriculture with tourism to create high added value. “In the coming time, the development of agro-tourism associated with building new rural areas will continue to be promoted. This is also one of the tasks mentioned in Resolution 05/2021 of the Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee on developing modern, sustainable agriculture with high added value. To maximize this potential, Resolution 05/2021 of the Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee on developing modern, sustainable agriculture with high added value emphasizes the formation of large-scale specialized farming areas, applying high technology, clean, organic farming meeting VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, and having the conditions to combine agriculture with tourism. Currently, agro-tourism has been achieving positive results,” Mr. Tan said.

It can be said that, although relatively new, agro-tourism promises to bring enormous benefits to agricultural development if the potential advantages of the locality are exploited and promoted.

Source