Exploiting indigenous resources to develop tourism

Tourists come to experience the beautiful landscape at Suoi Tien Waterfall homestay. Photo: THANH TIEN

Touching the soul of An Giang countryside

Cam Mountain, in Nui Cam Commune, attracts a large number of tourists on weekends. In addition to going to the pagoda for pilgrimage and worship, many tourists also want to enjoy the fresh air, beautiful scenery and find a sense of peace in the mountains and forests. To meet this need, many households in the commune have developed tourism products to exploit available resources.

Born and raised on Cam Mountain, Ms. Le Thi Kim Thoa understands the tourism potential of her hometown. She has developed a homestay tourism model so that visitors can experience the landscape and climate of her hometown. Ms. Thoa's Suoi Tien Waterfall Homestay welcomes a large number of visitors in the summer, especially on weekends. "At the suggestion of visitors, I built a homestay model right in my garden. In fact, visitors are very excited to experience the climate and landscape of the mountains. Guests who stay overnight can enjoy the coolness of Cam Mountain, make a campfire, and eat and drink together happily. In particular, from Suoi Tien Waterfall Homestay, visitors can admire the beautiful sea of clouds in the early morning," Ms. Kim Thoa shared.

Suoi Tien Waterfall is the element that makes Thoa's homestay unique. The waterfall is about 15m high, the water flows down gently, creating a dreamy scene in the middle of the majestic mountains and forests. "I am very happy because I have more income for my family and can introduce the beauty of my hometown to many people. The tourism products at my homestay are quite simple with homegrown fruits, local specialties, charming natural landscapes, the sea of clouds of Cam Mountain..., but tourists really like it," Thoa said.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Tai, residing in An Cu commune, exploits the annual flood season for tourism. This is the second year he has maintained this model, both to earn income during the flood season and to promote the unique natural phenomenon of the West. “Tourists come here to experience the feeling of relaxation on the flood fields. They go picking lotus and sesban flowers, take check-in photos, set fishing nets, then process and enjoy the specialties they have just harvested. What makes tourists excited is that everything is very natural, like the daily life of people in the flood area. For tourists from other places or international tourists, they really want to live like Western people during the flood season,” Mr. Tai shared.

Tourists enjoy experiencing the flood season in the West. Photo: THANH TIEN

Connect - Train - Promote: Three Steps to Growth

With his model, Mr. Tai is preparing to welcome visitors during this year's flood season. Many visitors want to experience the simplicity, honesty, and generosity of the West. So he continues to exploit local resources to serve visitors. Mr. Tai said: "Tourists insist on removing the fishing nets and picking the sesban flowers. These are very normal things for locals but make visitors, especially foreign visitors, extremely excited. I think that the flood season in my hometown, although simple, can completely develop tourism, helping people improve their income. What we lack is the knowledge of tourism and the connection channels to bring visitors to experience it."

Deputy Director of the Provincial Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Le Trung Hieu said that in recent times, the center and localities have built many new tourism products from available resources such as homestay models, camping in the Bay Nui area; riverside eco-tourism in Con En; building brands for famous dishes such as Long Xuyen broken rice, O Thum grilled chicken, durian salad... "We also develop types of experiential tourism such as trekking, hiking, seasonal fruit tourism on the mountains, river tourism to visit floating markets, raft villages, Cham villages... These are all available advantages of An Giang. With the attention of the professional sector and the enthusiasm of the people, we can completely form new tourism products. At that time, not only will we promote the image of the land and people of An Giang but also contribute to increasing people's income," Mr. Hieu commented.

To effectively exploit local tourism resources, Mr. Le Trung Hieu said that there needs to be close coordination between departments, branches and localities. After forming tourism products from local resources, the province needs to promote promotional activities on many media channels. It is possible to organize photo contests, short video clips, vote for restaurants, dishes... to attract attention and promote An Giang tourism image more effectively. "In addition, training and guiding people to do tourism with a civilized, thoughtful, polite and professional attitude is also an important factor, deciding the success of this activity. It is also necessary to combine tourism products with local typical services and goods to increase the spending of tourists when they come to experience the characteristics of the land and people of An Giang", Mr. Hieu said.

THANH TIEN

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/khai-thac-tai-nguyen-ban-dia-de-phat-trien-du-lich-a427177.html