Promoting indigenous cultural potential

Art performance of Muong ethnic people in Luong Ngoc village, Cam Luong commune (Cam Thuy).

According to tourism experts, indigenous culture and tourism need to be linked together, because if the potential of indigenous culture is well exploited, it will be an important resource to promote tourism development. On the contrary, tourism is the most effective way to promote and introduce heritage values in the fastest and most effective way to tourists. In fact, many localities in the province have built typical tourism products from the strengths of indigenous cultural values, many places have created famous brands that attract a large number of domestic and international tourists to visit. Typically, Pu Luong Community Ecotourism Area (Ba Thuoc) stands out with its effective exploitation of the potential and advantages of biodiversity, scenic spots associated with the cultural identity of the Thai and Muong ethnic groups. Ban Ma (Thuong Xuan) is famous for its tourism activities to experience the lifestyle, customs and daily practices of the Thai ethnic community. Meanwhile, at Cam Luong sacred fish stream (Cam Thuy), the cultural identity of the Muong ethnic group is fully utilized to develop tourism...

Coming to Luong Ngoc village, Cam Luong commune, in addition to admiring and visiting the sacred fish stream, immersing in the beautiful natural scenery, visitors can also explore the extremely rich cultural treasure of the Muong ethnic group that is being preserved by the people such as stilt house architecture, costumes, cuisine , customs, practices, lyrical and soulful folk songs or attend the Khai Ha festival that is regularly organized by the people at the beginning of the year. Along with that, the village also established a gong club that attracts a large number of Muong ethnic people to participate in practicing and performing for tourists.

Ms. Pham Thi Huyen, who has participated in the gong club for many years, shared: “For the Muong ethnic people here, gongs occupy an important position in the spiritual and cultural life. Gongs are also indispensable in the events and festivals of the village. Since the gong club was established, the members have been very active, regularly teaching the younger generation. Thereby, not only preserving the local culture, but also creating unique tourism products to serve the people and visitors."

The need to travel to immerse in nature, enjoy and explore the traditional culture of ethnic groups is a trend chosen by many tourists, thereby contributing to the development of tourism in the province... Therefore, the tourism industry of the province has implemented many solutions to exploit indigenous cultural values to serve tourism development. In particular, the focus is to actively deploy plans to implement the Project "Preserving, promoting and developing the language, writing, costumes, and traditional occupations of ethnic minorities in Thanh Hoa province until 2030" and the Project "Researching the restoration and promotion of the values of typical festivals and unique folk cultural forms in Thanh Hoa province to serve tourism development". Along with that, it is necessary to organize programs to research, restore, preserve and promote intangible cultural values; build models of traditional culture of ethnic minorities; build folk cultural activity clubs; Support activities for traditional art troupes in villages of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas; open classes to teach folk songs, dances, and traditional music of ethnic minorities to serve tourism development...

However, objectively speaking, cultural tourism products in tourist areas and spots in the province are still poor, monotonous, lacking in uniqueness, and prone to duplication; the values of national cultural identity in many places are gradually fading away, hybridizing, and changing. Especially, there is a lack of connection between localities and between localities and tourism businesses. Therefore, to properly exploit and hit the potential of indigenous culture in tourism development, more systematic, scientific approaches and more participation from all levels, sectors, and the community are needed.

Article and photos: Nguyen Dat

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-huy-tiem-nang-van-hoa-ban-dia-248185.htm