Mai Chau District on the journey to build an attractive and friendly destination

(HBĐT) - Once known as an attractive destination for tourists, in early 2023, Mai Chau tourism created a new mark when the Traveller Review Award (an award to honor the efforts, attempts and hospitality of partners) announced Mai Chau - Hoa Binh as one of the 10 friendliest destinations in Vietnam.

A group of Italian tourists checked in at Hich village - a community tourism destination in Mai Hich commune (Mai Chau).

Taking cultural essence as the foundation for tourism development

The list of the top 10 friendliest destinations in Vietnam in 2023 includes: Mai Chau (Hoa Binh); Phong Nha (Quang Binh); Ninh Binh; Hoi An (Quang Nam); Hue (Thua Thien Hue); Tuy Hoa (Phu Yen); Con Dao ( Ba Ria - Vung Tau ); Dong Hoi (Quang Binh); Cat Ba (Hai Phong); Sa Pa (Lao Cai). This is the result selected by the travel platform Booking.com based on data of 240 million tourists scoring and commenting. It is clear that Mai Chau tourism has made a strong mark on the Vietnamese tourism map. And that result is created from the tireless efforts of the Party Committee, government, and people of Mai Chau to create momentum for tourism to take off.

Reconnecting the journey of creating an image to be in the top, comrade Hoang Duc Minh, Vice Chairman of Mai Chau District People's Committee shared: Mai Chau is a mountainous district of the province, with 7 main ethnic groups living together. Each ethnic group has its own cultural characteristics, creating a unique, rich and diverse culture. In recent years, the District People's Committee has directed the Department of Culture and Information to advise on concretizing the policies of the Party and State on preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic groups. Accordingly, many plans, directives, resolutions, projects... have been developed and issued for implementation.

Up to now, the work of preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the district's ethnic groups has achieved important achievements. The preservation and promotion of traditional stilt houses and stilt house culture of the Thai and Muong people in Mai Chau district have been effectively implemented. Folk songs, folk dances, and singing have been inspired to flow strongly. The district has also restored and maintained the organization of the "Xen Muong" festival of the Thai people, the "Gau Tao" festival of the Mong people... In 2021, the district has 1 heritage proposed for recognition as a national intangible cultural heritage, which is "Keng Loong dance art of the Thai people". Proud of their ethnic cultural identity, people contribute to preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritages to build them into tourism products.

Create attraction for tourists

With potential, advantages and exploited to develop tourism since the 90s of the last century, up to now, Mai Chau district has become one of the bright spots on the Vietnamese tourism map with 197 accommodation establishments, including 4 resorts, 9 hotels meeting 1-3 star standards, 31 motels and 153 community motels. Just clicking on the keyword "Mai Chau tourism", tourists will have many suggestions for tours, routes, and attractive destinations from community tourism to high-class resorts. Currently, the district has 8 community tourism spots, including Lac village (Chieng Chau commune), Buoc village (Xam Khoe commune), Van village, Pom Coong village (Mai Chau town), Hich village (Mai Hich commune), Pa Co village (Pa Co commune), Hang Kia village (Hang Kia commune) and Nhot village (Na Phon commune). Along with high-class resorts such as: Avana Resort, Mai Chau Ecolodge, Ba Khan Village Resort, Mai Chau Hideaway Resort... have created impressive highlights for Mai Chau tourism.

The "fragrance" spreads far and wide, the number of tourists coming to Mai Chau increases every year. According to statistics, in 2017, Mai Chau welcomed 324,536 visitors, in 2018 welcomed 332,000, in 2019 welcomed 379,500. After 2 years of being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2022, the district welcomed 534,000 visitors, including 19,713 international visitors and 504,287 domestic visitors. In the first 9 months of 2023, the district welcomed 467,713 visitors, including 54,807 international visitors and 412,906 domestic visitors. Revenue from tourism contributes greatly to the socio-economic development of the district.

As the agency directly advising and implementing the tourism development planning roadmap in the area, comrade Ngan Van Tuan, Head of the Department of Culture - Information of Mai Chau district shared: To maintain its position as an attractive, friendly destination, retaining tourists, in addition to propaganda and promotion work, the district continues to attract investment in tourism development. In the coming time, focus on developing community tourism associated with protecting the ecological environment and tourism environment. At the same time, promote people to promote regional cultural values, build tourism products, build an attractive and friendly image of Mai Chau tourism, meeting the increasing needs of tourists to explore , experience and relax.

Thuy Hang (Contributor)

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