Na Tong Tourist Village

In November, Na Tong village, Thuong Lam commune, enjoys a cool breeze, its landscape shrouded in clouds that encircle 99 mountains shaped like phoenix wings. Anyone visiting Na Tong feels as if time has slowed down. Here, the people still preserve the distinctive cultural features of the Tay ethnic group: from language, beliefs, clothing, music to cuisine. Na Tong Cultural Tourism Village is also one of 130 tourism villages from 11 APEC economies selected to be featured and promoted on the APEC website.

Tourists experience tourism in Na Tong village. Photo: To Mai

The whole village is involved in tourism.

Visiting Na Tong today, few would imagine that this was once a disadvantaged village in the province. Everyone thought Na Tong would remain stagnant because the people's economy was mainly based on agriculture.

According to Ma Cong Kham, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thuong Lam commune, in 2014, the family of Ms. Trieu Thi Xuong in Na Tong village pioneered the development of community tourism under the name Hoang Tuan Homestay. After receiving advice and support from officials on how to run homestay tourism and being encouraged by the commune government, Ms. Xuong proactively renovated her house to provide services. From 2014 to the present, on average, her family welcomes over 500 visitors each month, bringing in tens of millions of dong in revenue.

Ms. Xuong said she never thought that the things readily available in her village could become tourism potential. Currently, her family owns three boats that transport tourists to visit the Na Hang - Lam Binh ecological lake.

In 2019, the Tay ethnic minority group "Tai Ngao from the Fairy Tale Land of Thuong Lam" came up with the idea of ​​establishing a homestay in a youthful style. With a nearly 2,500 m2 plot of land readily available on the road to Ben Thuy, and with over 400 million VND in support from the National Employment Fund along with contributions from the members, after almost a year of construction, the Tai Ngao Homestay officially opened in May 2019.

The early days of opening their homestay were a challenging time filled with anxieties for these young men. Thanks to recommendations from friends and their smartphones, they researched tourism online. They quickly created a Facebook page called "Homestay Tài Ngào," taking photos and posting pictures of the lake's beautiful scenery, promoting community tourism, local attractions, and specialty dishes.

To date, Homestay Tài Ngào welcomes an average of 250-300 guests per month. Mr. Hoàng Văn Minh, owner of Homestay Tài Ngào and also the Party Secretary of the village, shared that they have created Facebook and Zalo groups for online interaction, sharing information about their family's and local tourism products, and assigning households in the village to participate in serving tourists. This approach has helped tourists experience higher quality and more professional services.

Towards sustainability

Visitors to Na Tong not only get to relax in centuries-old stilt houses of the Tay people but also enjoy traditional folk songs and simple local dishes. To date, the entire village has established 12 performing arts groups to entertain tourists visiting for sightseeing and relaxation.

Traditional crafts such as weaving, embroidering patterns on ethnic costumes, making silver jewelry like earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and headscarves, and making sticky rice cakes and puffed rice cakes have also been revived. Tourists can also visit the Na Hang - Lam Binh ecological lake and enjoy meals with local families – unforgettable experiences.

Na Tong village maintains a performing arts troupe that provides entertainment for tourists.

Mr. Hoang Van Minh enthusiastically shared: "To ensure that the benefits from tourism are shared fairly, the village has organized and established groups of households with similar interests to professionalize each stage and improve the quality of service. Specifically, the village has a group of households specializing in providing animal feed and growing clean vegetables; a group of households specializing in cooking, with each household cooking a different dish when guests arrive; a group of households offering guests the experience of weaving and making souvenirs; and a group of households making sticky rice cakes, both for guests to enjoy and for them to experience."

Life has improved thanks to tourism.

According to Ma Cong Kham, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ma Cong Kham commune, since the introduction of community tourism, the environmental hygiene awareness of the people has significantly improved. Families involved in tourism voluntarily clean and maintain their homes, paying attention to personal hygiene and food safety on a daily basis. The food served to guests mainly consists of local specialties such as mountain vegetables, pond fish, chicken, and pork, all raised, grown, and caught by the villagers themselves, ensuring safety.

Currently, households developing homestay services in Na Tong village are linked together and with other villagers, creating stable jobs and helping to increase income.

Ms. Hoa Thi Hien, one of the village's "millionaires," shared: Since 2018, her family has invested in livestock farming, and now maintains 30 goats, 6 cows, 20 pigs, and over 100 chickens, ducks, and geese. Homestays in the village source their products, and after deducting expenses, her family earns nearly 200 million VND in profit annually. Ms. Hien happily stated that tourism has transformed the village, and all the products they produce now have a market.

For generations, the Tay people of Na Tong have lived off firewood from the forest, rice paddies, corn fields, and the shrimp and fish of the lake and streams. Now, these same people have become the owners of a promising form of rural tourism. And thanks to tourism, Na Tong today has no more impoverished households.

Le Duy

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/van-hoa/202511/lang-du-lich-na-tong-f3f0d24/