Developing experiential tourism model

Material and spiritual life is increasingly developing, people's demand for tourism, including experiential tourism, is increasing. In recent years, in localities in the province, the experiential tourism model has developed quite rapidly with many creative ways.

Based on the reality that children in urban areas lack playgrounds as well as knowledge about nature, trees, and animals, in 2024, Ms. Vu Thi Hong Hien (Le Hong Phong ward, Phu Ly city) decided to rent land and invest in building a farm for students to visit and learn. The farm has a variety of animals such as chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, crocodiles, ostriches, peacocks, deer, pheasants, soft-shell turtles, etc. In addition, Ms. Hien's farm also has many types of flowers and fruit trees that are familiar to daily life such as roses, chrysanthemums, dahlias, and trees including jackfruit, guava, figs, longans, lychees, etc.

Then, realizing that the trend of experiential tourism is growing as many families and schools organize experiential tourism trips for students at eco-tourism sites in Hanoi, Ms. Hien researched, learned how to do it and then developed the livestock farm model into an experiential eco-tourism site. Step by step, up to now, the experiential tourism area called "Happy Farm" (Thanh Son commune, Kim Bang) owned by Ms. Hien has been invested quite systematically, including many entertainment and experience areas such as: Giant grass slide, driving model cars, swings, seesaws, roller coasters, climbing spider web hammocks, merry-go-rounds... In addition, when coming to Happy Farm, visitors are also guided by a team of tour guides to visit and introduce flowers and animals; directly participate in some folk games, other attractive and interesting experiential activities such as: sack jumping, tug of war, blindfolded duck catching, crocodile fishing, glass bridge walking, net pulling, pottery making...

Students directly participated in pottery making at the Happy Farm tourist experience area, Thanh Son commune, Kim Bang.

It is known that the majority of visitors to Happy Farm are students from kindergartens and primary schools in the province and neighboring provinces and cities such as Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Hanoi , Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Hoa Binh... In addition, on weekends or holidays, families and family groups often bring their children to Happy Farm to experience and have fun after a stressful week of studying. While children participate in games, parents can entertain themselves by fishing, grilling food... to directly prepare outdoor meals for the family. Present with her family at Happy Farm on Sunday, Ms. Tran Thu Huyen (Chau Son ward, Phu Ly city) shared: Letting children visit and have fun at experiential tourist attractions not only helps them understand and love nature, animals, and trees, but is also an opportunity for the whole family to rest, entertain, and bond more after busy days of work and study. When I go to tourist attractions, I often choose to prepare lunch for the whole family by borrowing the grill, utensils, and tools from the farm. This way, my children can participate in the process of preparing and cooking the food themselves, and they feel very excited.

According to Ms. Vu Thi Hong Hien, owner of Happy Farm, Happy Farm currently has about 1 hectare of unused land. Therefore, in the near future, Happy Farm plans to invest in building more motels for visitors who want to take a nap or stay overnight; at the same time, build some items such as artificial waterfalls, swimming pools, parking lots, etc. to meet the needs of visitors.

Through research, it is known that currently, in some localities in the province, eco-tourism spots have also been formed associated with organic agricultural models. For example, in Trac Van commune (Duy Tien town), according to Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Pham Dang Khoi, the commune currently has 3 cooperatives developing agricultural production farms associated with experiential tourism. These spots attract a large number of school students and groups of visitors to experience, directly visit the production process and buy clean agricultural products in the garden. In order to sustainably and systematically develop these models, the commune has a plan to mobilize, encourage and support cooperatives to link up and establish a Union of Cooperatives on experiential eco-tourism.

Visitors experience strawberry picking and take souvenir photos at the strawberry garden of Ichigo Farm, Trac Van commune, Duy Tien.

Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Be, owner of Ichigo Farm (Trac Van commune) said: Ichigo Farm develops organic agricultural products with a variety of seasonal vegetables, tubers, and fruits, of which the highlight is the strawberry garden. Another impressive thing is that when coming to Ichigo Farm, visitors are introduced to the production process of some regional specialties such as: perilla leaves, spinach, kale, octopus tomatoes on trellis... These are all very nutritious vegetables and fruits, requiring high planting and care techniques. Customers coming to us, in addition to directly participating in the production and harvesting process of vegetables and tubers, can also check in and take souvenir photos in the gardens of sunflowers, dahlias, rough-leaf chrysanthemums, butterfly flowers... At the same time, they can enjoy dishes made from clean animals and plants grown by Ichigo Farm.

It can be seen that the experiential tourism model is increasingly developing due to the increasing demand for discovering new things of young people and the increasing demand for learning about nature of students. This form helps tourists to immerse themselves in the daily life of local people and explore the cultural beauty and life of the countryside. Accordingly, developing this model will contribute to solving employment for workers, promoting economic development, promoting the cultural beauty and tourism of the locality. However, from the actual development of some experiential tourism spots in Ha Nam, it shows that this model has not really developed systematically due to many reasons, mainly due to lack of land fund; people lack skills and experience in tourism; areas for eating and resting are still limited...

In order for the eco-tourism model to develop sustainably, local authorities need to have orientations and plans for areas and locations with potential for community tourism development, from which they can have strategies and plans to guide and train people in tourism and service skills. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to supporting and replicating some pilot models. The process of building an experiential tourism model combined with agriculture and craft villages also requires the support of the State in terms of mechanisms, policies and the synchronous participation of all levels and sectors.

Nguyen Oanh

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/du-lich/phat-trien-mo-hinh-du-lich-trai-nghiem-165045.html