How does the community tourism model in Phu Yen work? Does it increase farmers' income and make the village more beautiful?

Preserving traditional culture

Community tourism is a type of tourism developed on the basis of the cultural values ​​of the community, managed, organized and exploited by the community. This is a fairly new form of tourism, bringing visitors many interesting experiences when immersing themselves in the lives of local people to better understand cultural and traditional values. Revenue from community tourism not only helps people have more income, develop a sustainable economy but also is used to preserve local resources and heritage values.

In order to diversify tourism products, Phu Yen province is actively connecting traditional craft villages, promoting local cultural values ​​to form high-quality tours and experiential tourism routes, attracting and retaining tourists. This is also a way for the locality to preserve and promote intangible cultural heritage.

-Hon Yen Community Tourism Cooperative Group (An Hoa Hai Commune, Tuy An District) is piloting the tour “Hon Yen Rhythm of Life” to guide tourists through the net weaving profession. Photo: Thai Ha.

Xi Thoai village, Xuan Lanh commune, Dong Xuan district is the first mountainous village in Phu Yen province to be recognized as a cultural village in 2000 and is known as the cradle of the unique cultural art form "Double drum, triple gong, five gong" which was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2017.

Currently, the village has more than 200 households with more than 600 people, of which 95% of the population are Ba Na people. Along with the traditional brocade weaving craft village that has been preserved by the people for many generations, the local government and rural people have built a unique community tourism model.

Xi Thoai village community tourism group provides culinary services, gong cultural performances, brocade weaving, sightseeing, and picnics in streams, mountains, and forests, thereby contributing to preserving and promoting the unique culture of the Ba Na people as well as creating jobs and increasing income for women, especially women in difficult circumstances.

-Brocade weaving is a unique cultural feature of the Ba Na ethnic community (Phu Yen). Photo: Ngo Xuan.

Mr. So Minh Toan, a resident of Xi Thoai village, Xuan Lanh commune, Dong Xuan district, said: People not only receive investment and support from the government in terms of infrastructure, but also regularly participate in training to improve their skills in community tourism. From tourism business, the lives of ethnic minorities have improved significantly. Not only that, community tourism activities have contributed to raising people's awareness of the issue of protecting cultural heritage, the environment, and conserving ecosystems.

Contribute to building new countryside

In recent summer days, Hon Yen (Nhon Hoi village, An Hoa Hai commune, Tuy An district) has been bustling with tourists from all over coming to stay, explore the unique beauty of coral reefs and experience the peaceful, rustic life of a coastal fishing village.

Since being recognized as a national scenic spot (April 2018), Hon Yen has become known to many tourists. However, due to lack of strict management and lack of diverse and systematic tourism products, most tourists only come for a short time, take pictures of Hon Yen and then leave. The downside of this tourism activity is that some tourists litter, trample, and break corals, causing damage to the coral reefs of Hon Yen.

In recent times, Phu Yen province has built many fruit tree growing models combined with tourism, creating a highlight for the locality. Photo: LH

In 2020, the Global Environment Facility - Small Projects Program in Vietnam under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supported the locality to implement the Project on Strengthening Community Capacity in Conserving the Hon Yen Coral Reef Population. The project organized many propaganda and training sessions to provide knowledge on marine resource management, marine environmental protection, and benefits of conservation and sustainable exploitation of ecosystems for local people.

From the initial confusion when implementing the pilot model, the locality has now established a reception point and guided visitors to services and tourism in an environmentally friendly model. Members of the Hon Yen Community Tourism Cooperative Group carry out the dual goal of both managing and protecting the coral reef aquatic resources and exploiting the unique tourism strengths of the Hon Yen scenic spot. When visiting Hon Yen, visitors are arranged to travel by basket boat or tourist canoe, so there is no more trampling on the coral reefs.

Ms. Truong Thi Gai, a member of the Hon Yen Community Tourism Cooperative Group, said: "We did not know how to do tourism, so when we started implementing the project, the members of the community tourism group were still confused and did not work effectively. The Phu Yen Provincial Women's Union, the unit in charge of implementing the community tourism project, then surveyed and organized many field trips; ate and stayed with some households to learn about the strengths and limitations and difficulties in organizing community tourism. Seeing the attention of authorities at all levels and the enthusiasm of the Women's Union members, the villagers were excited and quickly started to implement it."

Ms. Huynh Thi Kim On is from Nhon Hoi fishing village. She used to stay at home as a housewife, weaving nets and selling fish every morning when her boat came ashore. Since the locality launched a community tourism project in Hon Yen, Ms. On has joined a group of cooking services for tourists. Recently, her family welcomed 12 people from neighboring provinces.

"My house has a large and cool yard, so I joined the home cooking service for tourists. At first, I was not used to it, the food sometimes did not suit the taste of tourists and the service was confusing. But after a while, everything has gradually become familiar. Working in tourism is fun, meeting many people, learning many interesting things. When the coastal village had many tourists, Nhon Hoi village had homestays; families organized cooking services so the women had more work to do and more income. The women were very excited," Ms. On shared.

The Hon Yen community tourism group currently has 44 members, of which 70% are women. In fact, developing community tourism associated with new rural construction not only opens up opportunities for people to increase their income, preserve and promote traditional cultural values ​​of the locality, but also helps many women have the opportunity to develop themselves and increase their income.

Talking about the effectiveness of community tourism activities, Mr. Nguyen Van My, Chairman of the Board of Members of Lua Viet Tourism Company Limited, said: Developing community tourism is an approach to create the highest benefits for local people, who use tourism as a tool to generate economic benefits. Tourists have to pay when they come to visit and experience cultural and natural values, and this money is used to improve people's lives, help develop the socio-economy, and contribute to preserving traditional cultural values ​​and local landscapes. Practice has proven that tourism not only reduces poverty and contributes to building new rural areas, but also helps people enrich themselves and the country.

Source: https://danviet.vn/mo-hinh-du-lich-cong-dong-o-phu-yen-hoat-dong-ra-sao-nong-dan-co-tang-thu-nhap-lang-co-dep-len-20241020095719452.htm