Starting a business from indigenous cultural tourism

Located in the middle of the mountains and forests, the Family Ecozone eco- tourism area in Hai Lang commune with an area of 20 hectares built by young man Nguyen Van Truong has become a tourist attraction because of the harmonious combination of nature and experiences bearing the local mark. Currently, Family Ecozone serves dining, fishing, experiencing mangrove forests, making traditional cakes with the locals... creating extremely close experiences between tourists and locals.

Panoramic view of Family Ecozone eco-tourism area.

Mr. Truong said: Exploiting the strengths of the locality, which are the natural landscape of mountains and forests and unique indigenous culture, I chose to build the Family Ecozone eco-tourism area. I hope that visitors coming here will not only visit but also live in the cultural space of my hometown. Besides, I also take advantage of the family's advantage of having 13 hectares of natural lagoon and 6.5 hectares of eucalyptus forest. The location is convenient for travel, only about 5 km from the center of Tien Yen town (old).

To effectively implement the model, Mr. Truong researched and learned about eco-tourism models across the country, saw how they were built and operated, and applied them to his family's model. From January to November 2022, he focused on completing the infrastructure: building 4 wooden stilt houses, renovating the playground, repairing the rest rooms, making a kitchen, arranging the landscape, and connecting shrimp and fish ponds, while also testing the service. From March to April 2022, he built experiential programs at the farm, connecting tours inside and outside the province, and promoting them on social networks. From April 2022 to now, the model has been operating stably and attracting more and more tourists.

Tourists come to experience boating and fishing at Family Ecozone eco-tourism area.

What makes this model attractive is not only the fresh landscape but also the way Mr. Truong turns the “farming” experience into an attractive tourism product for visitors. From there, it has created jobs for many people in the commune, especially during the peak season. This is considered a way of doing things in line with the local sustainable ecotourism development orientation.

Mr. Truong added: Currently, my wife and I also combine raising shrimp, crabs, and fish. The family also takes advantage of the space under the canopy of the production forest, planting more than 1,000 coconut trees and other fruit trees, and planting over 2,000 square meters ^of lotus flowers, contributing to creating landscapes and diversifying tourism products. Family Ecozone has brought high economic efficiency to my family as well as the local people, creating jobs for 6 regular workers with an income of 6-10 million VND/person/month, bringing in revenue of about more than 1 billion VND/year.

Along with the development of Family Ecozone, many other young people are also starting a business with tourism associated with indigenous culture. A typical example is the Pac Sui homestay model in Yen Than commune (now Tien Yen commune) of Ms. Le Thi Bich Hanh, where visitors can experience the daily life, culture and cuisine of the Dao Thanh Phan ethnic group. Coming to Pac Sui homestay, visitors will be immersed in the green space of the mountains and forests, soak in the cool water of Pac Sui waterfall and enjoy unique cuisine from local agricultural products such as Tien Yen chicken, khau nhuc, not gu cake, yellow flower tea...; soak feet in Dao medicinal leaves; make a campfire, rent traditional costumes to take photos and check-in, learn about ethnic culture with indigenous people. In addition to homestay, visitors can visit and experience some beautiful landscapes such as terraced fields, experience folk games such as spinning tops, throwing con...

Tourists come to visit and relax at Pac Sui homestay.

Ms. Hanh shared: “I have worked for quite a long time in the highland communes, experienced many things, had direct contact with the people and experienced their culture. Being passionate about adventure travel and discovery, I planned to build a community tourism area at the Pac Sui waterfall scenic area and produce Tien Yen's golden flower tea grown and harvested by the people from the natural forest. Up to now, after 4 years of operation, the homestay has become an attractive destination, attracting many tourists and contributing to creating a stable income for local people, while promoting the cultural values and typical products of the highlands."

Ms. Hanh added that along with building the homestay, in 2021, she also established the Tien Yen Agricultural Products Processing and Consumption Cooperative, which not only buys tea for the people but also processes and introduces golden flower tea products through OCOP fairs and digital platforms. Tourists coming to stay can also buy tea products as gifts. This is a way to help connect tourism with local agriculture, creating a sustainable value chain between cultural preservation, economic development and promoting local specialties.

Pac Sui Homestay has created many jobs for local ethnic minorities.

It can be seen that not only awakening local tourism by widely promoting the culture, traditional costumes, and typical dishes of their ethnic people, many young people also proactively create new experiential products associated with local life, helping tourists understand and connect more with the land they set foot on. These efforts are gradually forming a sustainable direction for highland tourism, both promoting traditional values and promoting local economic development.

Van Anh

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/khoi-nghiep-tu-du-lich-van-hoa-ban-dia-3387127.html